Naruto: Stepping into the Light
by HunterQwon
Summary: Full Summary Inside. As freshly minted Genin, three fifteen year old shinobi are thrown together in a four person squad. Over time, one such Genin has been the utter shame of the entire Village Hidden in the Leaves. Enter Naruto Uzumaki, a veritable demon of pure energy. For his entire life, Naruto has been ignored, and whispered about behind his back without even knowing why.
1. Chapter 1

_**AU Summary: As freshly minted Genin, three fifteen year old shinobi are thrown together in a four person squad. Over time, one such Genin has been the utter shame of the entire Village Hidden in the Leaves. Enter Naruto Uzumaki, a veritable demon of pure energy. For his entire life, Naruto has been ignored, and whispered about behind his back without even knowing why. Very few of the other students give him the time of day, save for a precious few. Now that he's finally become a shinobi, Naruto dreams of taking over as the Hokage one day. But with the entire village seemingly against him, how will that even be probable?**_

 _ **1: Unforeseen Hard Worker**_

* * *

Sitting with his arms behind his head, the blond teen sighed as he and his two teammates waited for their new sensei. Honestly, for the blond, his new team couldn't have been worse. And all because of one person. That was Sasuke Uchiha. For the passed decade, the two had been at each other's throats in competition. Sasuke was hailed as a prodigy of his clan, himself being the last of his clan due to a massacre eight years ago.

That being said, the Uchiha was fawned over by everyone in class, teachers and students alike. The adults, however, looked at him almost in the same way they did the blond himself.

The name of the blond in question was Naruto Uzumaki, self-proclaimed Number-One-Hyperactive-Knucklehead-Shinobi. Not the most flattering of monikers, but it was certainly better than other's he'd received.

The way the system worked was, first and foremost, pairing up the top male Genin with the top kunoichi, or female shinobi, on the same team. And then their was the dead last to be placed on the same team, to balance it out. Naruto was neither of those. He, unfortunately, was the dead last of his class, having only barely passed his graduation exam on the chance of a traitor, and the extended hand of a friend.

No, Naruto was not the best of his class, far from it.

All of the others in his class were mainly from high-ranking clans, such as Sasuke was from the Uchiha clan. Over the years, mainly of the civilians had been dropped from the class, save for only one girl, who had gone on to become the top kunoichi of his class, meaning that she was now a member of his team. Naruto himself was far different then even her.

His hands were rough, and worn from hours upon hours of training.

True, even now his chakra control was abysmal, but that hadn't stopped him from doing everything he could in class to rise through the ranks. The final two years of his classes had worked strictly on chakra control, which he had finally gotten a grasp on through one of his teachers' aid, and he still wasn't the best compared to others that had clan techniques, and families to help along in the path of the shinobi.

Naruto, unlike everyone else, had absolutely no one.

Even Sasuke, whose clan was destroyed, had had some training from his family before the incident.

Naruto looked at the clock on the wall, and frowned. ' _Three hours?_ ' He frowned, growing impatient. ' _Okay, that does it._ ' The blond groaned and got up from his seat, moving over to the chalk board.

"Naruto, just what do you think you're doing?" The lone female of the trio asked, her eyes following the blond, "You know we're supposed to wait on our sensei?"

Naruto looked back at her as he grabbed an eraser, "It's been three hours already, Sakura," the blond said, and went over to the door of the classroom. He opened it up just a crack, and placed the eraser at the top, so that the next person to open it would have the thing drop right on their head. Not the most ideal prank, he knew, because only a real rube would fall for such a thing at this stage, but given that it was all he had, meh, work with what you have, eh? "This is a little payback for making us wait so long."

Sakura grimaced, "Naruto, you're gonna get us in trouble," she said, although, on the inside, she was cheering for the prank to work. She wouldn't admit it, but she had always liked the blond's pranks. "Besides, a Jonin would never fall for that kind of a trap."

"I should hope not," said the stoic, dull voice of their other teammate, "Any one that would fall for that deserves it, anyway."

Naruto shrugged, dusting his hands off as he returned to his seat, "Never thought we'd agree on anything." He said, kicking his feet up on the desk as they returned to waiting. "But seriously, how come this person's taking so long? The others left after only a few minutes."

"Well, the Jonin of the village are all pretty busy with their own responsibilities, so maybe they just - " Sakura started off.

"Totally forgot about us," Naruto finished, "Genin teams are a responsibility, too, ya know?" He reminded her gently, not wanting to sound too harsh with the girl. It was no secret that he fancied her. As a matter of fact, everyone knew it, Sakura included. Of course, she, and almost every other girl in his class, except one, fancied Sasuke... _of course_...

Sakura scoffed, and crossed her arms in a huff, "Well, I know that, dummy, but he or she still might be too busy."

"What kind of a Jonin's too busy to meet with their team?" Sasuke asked, raising a brow at her. "As far as I can tell, Jonin with a Genin team should put training future forces above anything else aside from missions."

The girl gained a small blush, "Well, maybe this Jonin's one of the elites that serve as Anbu for a time?" She pointed out, trying to save face with the dark-haired Genin, "Besides, they'd want nothing but the best to train you, Sasuke."

"I could care less about that," Naruto mumbled, beginning to doze off, giving out a huge yawn. "Just so long as I can finally start towards my goals."

"Oh, look, we just agreed on something else," Sasuke put in dully, his eyes closing.

"The world will soon end," Naruto said ominously.

Sakura bit back a giggle. It was then that she noticed a hand coming through the crack in the door, and pushing it open. The eraser Naruto had set up for his little trap fell just as a head of purple hair came through.

"Look alive maggots! The sexy Jonin Anko - Eep!"

All three Genin felt their jaws dropping for more reasons than one. The primary reason being that this female Jonin had just fallen for what could possibly be one of the oldest tricks in the book. The other reason was the way she was dressed. This "Anko" wore a long brown trench coat, which wasn't all that strange, but the fact that she also wore nothing but a mesh shirt, and a thin layer of chain mail underneath was. It left little to nothing to the imagination. The final nail in the coffin was the fact that when Naruto's little joke had succeeded...she had let out a really cute squeak when it fell on her head.

' _You've got to be kidding me,_ ' Sasuke frowned, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Naruto's eye was twitching slightly as the woman dusted off her head, ' _Not what I was expecting,_ ' he thought, giving the woman a slight once over, ' _At least she has a sense of humor if that introduction was anything to go on._ '

' _Look at how she's dressed!_ '

' _CHA! What a bimbo!_ ' Sakura thought along with her inner voice.

Now that Anko had finished cleaning off, she glared at the three Genin, "I see that we have a comedian in the ranks," she said, placing her hands on her hips, "Right, which one of you little shits did that?"

"Guilty," Naruto said, raising his hand, "You kind'a had it coming. What did you expect after being three hours late?"

"Hey! My watch stopped!"

"Lame," Naruto groaned.

"Well excuse me for having extra work at the T&I department," Anko huffed, which got the trio's attention. The "Torture and Inquisition" department had _actually_ sent them one of their members as a Jonin instructor? Anko grinned seeing that she had caught their interest. "Yeah, we had an extra stubborn prisoner that just wouldn't crack." She smiled sadistically, "I tried everything. Electric shocks, searing hot needles under the finger nails," Sakura shivered and clenched her hands, hiding her nails from view, "pulling off his toe nails, I even smashed his nuts, and he still wouldn't crack!"

By now Naruto and Sasuke had unconsciously crossed their legs.

"So," Sakura said shakily, "Er, how did you, uh, get them to crack?"

Anko giggled, "So glad you asked," she smiled, "Turns out the poor fucker was ticklish like no other, so I went to work with a feather, and he went bat shit!" She then looked over the three Genin that were now, apparently, under her care. "Now then, I want you little shits to meet me on the roof...NOW!" She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The three Genin were left looking at each other...before Naruto sprang up and bolted for the door. No way was he going to make a woman that had no problem crushing a guy's jewels wait on him!

(*)

Watching with slight amusement through a crystal ball say Hiruzen Sarutobi as the newly minted Team Seven rushed to follow their new sensei. He had to admit, placing Anko Mitarashi as the Jonin instructor for the trio had been a fine idea. Members of his council had questioned him on the decision, but he had stood firm. At first, Kakashi Hatake had been the first choice, but thinking on it, the Hokage had thought the man may show favoritism to either Naruto, or Sasuke, given both boys were special cases. One being an Uchiha, and the other being...connected to the man.

But, with Anko as their teacher, that wouldn't be a problem.

A knock sounded from his door, and the man smiled, "You may enter, Kakashi."

The door opened, revealing the silver hair, and masked face of the Jonin in question. "Have they met Anko, yet?"

"Just now," the old man smiled, "Naruto decided to pull one of his less harmful antics on her."

Kakashi winced, "How bad?"

"Nothing too serious," Hiruzen smiled, reaching for his favorite pipe, "She did go into the yarn about the ticklish prisoner, however. That seemed to get their undivided attention."

Kakashi chuckled at his comrade's antics, "I'm sure she had them rolling in the isles." He said, then sighed, "I wish you'd taken my request into more consideration, you know? I was Minato's student, so - "

"I am well aware of who trained you, Kakashi," Hiruzen smiled as he stuffed tobacco into his pipe, "But you must realize taht you would, without a doubt, shown favoritism toward one of the boys, and quite possibly ignored the other two. Naruto is a live wire, not quite your forte as you well know. And Sasuke is quite the stoic young man, even though he used to be such a nice boy. He has become obsessed over his brother, and what he did to his clan. And we both know that while Sakura is quite easily the smartest young woman of her age, she lacks discipline, and motivation. The presence of a strong kunoichi such as Anko may give the girl the kick start that she needs to become a fine kunoichi herself."

Kakashi sighed, conceding the man's point, "Still, Anko? She's - "

"She is no less a fine member of our forces." Hiruzen said, lighting the pipe up with a small snap of his fingers, "She also shares an unseen bond with our young Naruto in the fact that she herself has been ostracized because of her involvement with Orochimaru. Naruto himself has been treated in a far harsher manner given his status as Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails. And the pair's out going nature may yet have a positive effect on Sasuke, as well as Naruto's penchant for hard work."

"Hard work, yes, healthy...not so much," Kakashi sighed, "You know I've watched over him from the time he left the orphanage, and the apartment you gave him is nothing short of a pigsty. The room is littered with old ramen cups, dirty clothes, and gear he repairs."

"I know, he's quite proud of the chain mail shirt he knitted back together himself." Hiruzen smiled, "Most of the gear he has is second hand. If he doesn't have the money to buy what he needs, he scrounges around the training fields hoping to find something he can put to use." He took a long drag from his pipe, "And with the missions he will be taking up as a shinobi, hopefully he will have the funds to replace some of that gear."

"If he doesn't spend it all on ramen," Kakashi said, frowning beneath his mask, "Will I still be the first in line to train Sasuke once his Sharingan awakens?"

"Unless there's someone else in the village with a Sharingan," the man smiled, blowing out a smoke ring, "But be warned, Kakashi, the boy may prove to be a worthy apprentice, but his lust for revenge may also cloud those eyes of his."

(*)

Anko giggled as the three Genin came bumbling onto the roof, the blond prankster being the first with Sasuke and Sakura bringing up the rear, "Hmm, a little slow there, Pinkie." She said, noting that the girl was more out of breath than the boys were, "Do not fucking tell me that you don't exercise. Girl, if you went out on even a bandit quelling mission right now, they'd have you tied up, and be lined up in no time. First thing we work on as a team, you guys are going to be put through the gauntlet, get it?"

"Yes, Sensei," Sakura panted, feeling foolish. Naruto grimaced and patted her shoulder in comfort. The girl looked up, her face falling when she saw who was comforting her, though she appreciated it, nonetheless. "Thanks."

Anko pushed off the railing she had been leaning on, and crossed her arms over her chest, "Lookie here, Pinkie, I'm not saying this to be mean, or anything like that. I'm no bully. BUT!" Sakura jumped as Anko gave her a critical look, "If you are not prepared to get out there, work your ass to the bone, and kill at times, you are the one that bandits, and enemy shinobi will target the most. Why? Because you're a girl." Sakura looked at her with a shiver, "No matter how much you train, the fact that you were born female will always be the bull's eye on your back." Anko went on, "Most shinobi teams are comprised of four members, a leading Jonin," she gestured to herself, "And three subordinates," she gestured to the three Genin, "Nine times out of ten, those subordinates are two guys, and a girl. The boys are the ones that normally do the heavy lifting, but that doesn't mean the girls can't kick ass either, but the fact is, the girl is the one that usually acts as the medic of the team, E.I. the one that heals all the little boo-boos the boys get when they fuck up."

Sasuke grimaced at the woman, but Naruto just grinned, knowing full well what she meant.

Sakura shivered slightly, "Um, but I've heard about a kunoichi that was seriously strong?"

"That'd be Tsunade Senju," Anko nodded, smiling, "There's no kunoichi that hasn't heard of her, and there's not one out there that doesn't want to be like her." She said, "She's got the whole package. Strength to match over a hundred shinobi. Knowledge of the healing arts to the greatest extreme. And by far, the most experience of any living kunoichi out there."

"But that doesn't mean that being a medic is the only option you'll have," the Jonin went on, "Like me, you could be the one that's most dangerous on a team. I wouldn't have the strength of any of my teammates, but I would know how to get answers out of anyone I come across via poisons, or torture. Or, you could be the whole package. Medical knowledge comes with knowing about poisons, and how to make them ineffective. In other words, you'd also learn how to make them as effective as they can be. And I'm gonna make sure which ever you choose, you're gonna be the best."

Sakura finally smiled a little at their sensei, "I promise to do my best, Anko-sensei."

"You'd better," Anko grinned. She then turned her attention to the boys, who jumped slightly. "Now, as for you, Mister Prankster."

"Er," Naruto started sweating under the woman's intense gaze.

"I've heard about you from your teachers," she said, grinning, "Horrendous chakra control," the blond groaned as he felt a cold spike punch through his head, "Low attention span unless it happens to be something big, bright and flashy," another three spikes, "But," he perked up, "you don't give up, which I find admirable. You're also strong as a bull as far as physical strength goes, and you're fast. None of the Chunin can keep up with you whenever they chased you through the village, believe me, I've watched with popcorn in hand. Apply that with a burst of chakra, and you'd be near uncatchable. Only an Anbu would keep up with your speed."

Naruto grinned at this proudly.

"You one big problem, though, is that chakra control," Anko frowned, "We're gonna have to work on that. Really work on it."

"Why does he have so much trouble with control?" Sakura found herself asking, knowing that Naruto had struggled with the exercises during their last two years.

"Props to you for asking about your teammate, Pinkie," Anko said, giving a mock clap, "It shows you actually care. To answer your question, Naruto here as an incredible amount of chakra running through him. Out of all the people in the village, only four others have his overwhelming amount, well three, actually. One has more. The three that have the nearest amount to Naruto are the Sannin, who are Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, Tsunade the Slug Princess, and Orochimaru." She sneered out the last of the three names with a growl. "The one person in the village that has more chakra than he does is the current Hokage."

"The reason Naruto has so much trouble with techniques from your academy days, is because that those techniques don't need a whole lot of chakra," she went on, "Naruto here has so much chakra, that he actually over charges it, causing it to either not work, or blow up in his face. Meaning Genjutsu is a no-go, for him."

She then moved on to Sasuke, "Now we get to our problem case."

"Me?" Sasuke frowned.

"Why Sasuke?" Sakura asked, scowling. "He was the top of every class we had."

Anko shook her head, "Perfect scores do not make a perfect shinobi." She said, "He can put up that non-caring, aloof attitude of his all he wants, but he still has one, glaring, blaring problem."

Sasuke glared at the woman, who glared right back, "So? What's this problem you say I've got?" He demanded angrily.

Pointing a finger at the young man, the woman frowned, "I know all about what happened to your family," she said, making the boy snarl, "And I know who the one that did the deed was. I worked with him on several missions. No one could've seen what the fuck he was going to do. No one saw that mess coming. Why he left you alive, I don't know...nor do I give a rat's ass."

"Hey!" Sakura yelped jumping to her crush's defense, but Anko held up a hand to stop her.

"Feelings on the battlefield get people killed," Anko said, looking at the young Uchiha, "And feelings like those you have for your brother will warp, twist, and cloud your judgement if you ever meet him again. Because I can guarantee that if you were to meet him now, you'd fly right off the handle, and get your ass handed to you on a silver platter."

Sasuke ground his teeth tightly, "My one goal is to kill him for what he did to my clan!"

"And that's your choice," Anko said, "But what I'm going to drive home right here and now, is that you won't get anywhere if you don't think things through. Let that stupid grudge you have against him cloud those Sharingan eyes of yours, and you'll die before you realize it. While I won't get in your way, I'm not about to sit back and watch you get yourself killed. I'm going to help you, that's my _job_. You are _my_ student. I will _not_ allow you to be a weakling. Not when you have so much riding on your own life right now. The name of your clan being the biggest issue. You die, then Itachi is the last one of the Uchiha. If you kill him, then you will most likely need to focus on finding a wife, and continuing your clan. You need to make sure that you can do that if you manage to defeat Itachi."

Sasuke looked like he wanted to argue, but closed his mouth with a click, and nodded.

Anko smiled at the trio, "Good, I'm glad you can all agree with me." She said, stepping forward and placing her hands on her hips, "Now, you three will need to rest up tonight. Eat a lite, hardy breakfast in the morning, because you will get sick if you eat too much. Tomorrow, the four of us will be working on team-building. And I'm sorry to say that if you three can't work as a well-oiled team, then I will be sending your cute little asses all the way back to the beginners courses of the academy."

"What!?" Naruto roared, "That's not fair! I worked my ass off just getting this far!"

"Who dropped an eraser on whose head?" Anko smiled sweetly at the boy, making him yelp and duck behind Sasuke. "That's what I thought. Now, my training ground just so happens to be our normal course for the second half of the Chunin exams, which are essentially, a wild area with the worse of the worst beasts, bugs, and plants our land has to offer. This is where we will all train. So, meet me at Training Ground Forty-four at ten tomorrow morning, sharp, and come prepared for a camping trip."

"You won't be late again, will you?" Naruto peeked from behind Sasuke, who frowned at him, though he was silently agreeing with the blond troublemaker.

Anko gave the blond a frown, "Why? Gonna drop another powder bomb on my head?"

"Shutting up."

"Good," Anko smirked, "Now, git!"

(*)

Anko stepped into her apartment later that day with a slight sigh, but she was happy with the day. She liked her team, all in all, but they needed a lot of work. She kicked off her sandals, and sank down into her couch. No sooner had she done so than a set of hands landed on her shoulders, kneading the knots out of them. "Hm, you certainly know how to treat a girl," she sighed, leaning into the touch, "You know I blame you for making me late to meet my Genin, right?"

"You know you loved it," Iruka Umino smiled down at her, "Besides, I wanted to see how Naruto's patience would hold out."

Anko scowled up at him, "He dropped an eraser on my head." She said, pouting cutely, "Honestly, if he wasn't your student, I would've been a lot harder on him than I was."

Iruka laughed, "You treated them all with kid gloves, and you know it," he said, grinning, "Besides, you've liked Naruto since he put black powder in Lord Third's tobacco box."

Anko could help but laugh at that, remembering the day she had seen a ten year old little boy running from the Hokage while the man's beard smoldered. "Okay, okay, I admit it. I've got a soft spot for the boy." She relented as his hands started to wander from her shoulders to her neck, "Still, I can't believe you convinced me to put my name up for being a Jonin instructor."

"You needed a break from all the madness from the T&I department," he reminded her, "And I thought it would be good for you to get into a bit of teaching."

She reached up and took the hand kneading the left side of her neck, "Keep moving those fingers like that, and I'll teach you something new."

Needless to say that Iruka kept up his ministrations...for all of ten seconds before the woman all but dragged him over the back of the couch, and continuing where they had left off from early, which is what initially caused her to be late for her meeting in the first place.

(*)

The next morning at ten sharp, the three Genin met in front of the gates of Training Ground Forty-four. "Whoa," Naruto breathed out as he looked at the vast, thick forest behind the chain-link fence. He could already hear various animals deep within the undergrowth. "This place is huge!"

"Yeah, no kidding," Sakura agreed.

Sasuke remained silent as he too took in the large training ground. "Where's Anko-sensei?"

"Here!" The woman shouted from above them, the trio looking up to see the woman standing atop the massive fence, "Welcome to my home away from home, kiddies!" She lept down and landed right in front of the Genin. "Did you all get enough rest last night? Decent breakfast?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Naruto and Sakura said dutifully while Sasuke just grunted.

"Sasuke, speak up!" Anko demanded, "When I took you on as a student, I thought I was getting a fifteen year old boy, not an albino chimpanzee!"

"Pfffft!" Naruto's cheeks puffed out as he doubled over while Sasuke growled.

"Shut the hell up, Dead Last!" Sasuke roared.

Sakura suddenly found her shoulders encircled by her sensei, giving a wide-eyed look toward the Uchiha, "Look, Sakura, that chimp can chat!" Anko grinned, much to the ire of the Uchiha, but even the young rosette had to stifle a giggle.

"Alright," Anko laid off of the Genin as Sasuke was close to losing his temper, and Naruto dying from laughter. "No more horsing around. What we're here for today, is for a bonding exercise." She flung her left arm out toward the forest, "And this will not just be a one day thing. This will be a month long survival training program. To make sure that you three can get along, you will all take a merry little trip into my stomping grounds, and survive."

"What?!" Sakura blanched, pointing toward the fence, "Bu-but I just saw a really, really huge tiger in there!"

"Bingo!" Anko snapped her fingers, "This big, beautiful forest is filled with predatory animals, and plants of all kinds, as well as an abundant supply of prey animals. So you'd better have paid attention in survival class back in school." She smiled, "All of you will have to work together as a team to survive in there. Whether you like it or not. Now, that isn't to say that all you'll be doing is taking a tip-toe through the woods, because I will be getting you guys some D-rank missions to get you guys going as a team, as well as get you some spending cash, and when your first month is over, and I feel that you guys can function as a team, I'll official announce the formation of Team Seven, and start us out on a mid-rank C-rank mission. Understand?"

Naruto grinned, "This is right up my alley! Bring it!"

Anko grinned at him, "I like your enthusiasm, but keep in mind that this is a team exercise, you all need to chip in," she said, gaining a nod from each of them, "Alright, come forward and step into the wild, my oh-so-cute little Genin."

Naruto grinned, and looked back at Sakura, "Sakura, you take up the middle, that way you'll be safe between me and Sasuke," he said as the girl nodded and fell in behind him as Sasuke brought up the rear.

Anko nodded in approval. She realized it was his desire to protect the girl he had rush on, but that same sense could be applied to protecting the medic of a team. "Keep in mind that if anything venomous bites or stings you, you'll need to either find and herb to help with the poison, or come out and find me. I'll be keeping an eye on you for that very thing, so all of you take care, and be careful."

(*)

The first thing that the newly minted team did, under Sasuke's suggestion, was find a location close to a small stream with drinkable water. Naruto followed his nose to the source of water, and went about making camp.

"Hold up, Naruto," Sakura cautioned him before he began, "We don't know if this area's safe."

Naruto tapped his nose, "It's okay, Sakura, I don't small anything like a predator around here." He said, "The ground's all grassy, too, so nothing's been through here for a while. Plus, I can smell fruit nearby. And that stream probably has a few fish in it, or opens up into an area that does."

As Sasuke came into the area and scanned it, he found that he, begrudgingly, agreed with the blond, it also helped that there was a large tree nearby that had exposed roots large enough to make a shelter from without very much work.

Before he could put his two ryo in, there was a shout of "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" and the area was soon covered with solid copies of his blond teammate. The Uchiha's brow rose right into his hairline at the sight of the advanced Clone technique.

"Naruto, where did you learn how to do that?" Sakura asked in shock, "I thought the Clone Jutsu was your worst subject?"

Naruto, one of them, just grinned at her, "It was, but I learned this one because it works with a lot of chakra," he said, sticking with the story he and Iruka had come up with. As far as anyone knew, he and Iruka had gone to the Hokage in hopes of helping the young man graduate, and he had learned the more advanced Shadow Clone. Sasuke was eyeing the blond with slight envy as Naruto set about making their campsite.

' _How did that idiot learn something like that?_ ' He growled internally, then smirked, ' _Once my Sharingan awakens, then I'll just learn it for myself. If he can do it, then I can damned well do it, and better!_ '

Sakura, seeing that the blond was taking most of the hard jobs around their camp, was unsure of what to do as Sasuke was clearing out a small spot for them to sleep, "Um, Naruto, is there anything I can do?"

The blond and his clones were currently digging out a fire pit and placing rocks around it, while others were scouting the area for food. The one she thought was the real one smiled at her, "We could use some fresh water. I brought along some water cans in one of my storage scrolls." He said, and tossed the scroll to her.

The girl smiled, and caught the scroll before moving off toward the stream.

A short time later found the trio sitting around Naruto's fire pit, fish roasting around the flames, feeling only slightly tired. Sakura found herself actually enjoying it. "You really think she's gonna make us stay out here for a whole month?" The girl asked.

"She said she'd take us out for missions," Naruto pointed out while tearing into a fish, "Why? Don't like camping?"

Sakura blushed, "No, it's just..."

"Just what?" Sasuke found himself asking.

She blushed brighter when the boy asked, "W-well...what about...bathing?"

Naruto shrugged, "There's a pool a little ways off from the camp, but if you want to take a bath, one of us is gonna have to keep watch in case something comes along and decides you're dinner."

Sakura didn't much like the sound of that. Sasuke and Naruto were both boys, and Anko's words from the previous day had left her a little mistrustful of males in general. But she was confident enough to believe she could send them packing if they did try anything.

"You seem to be pretty good at this sort of thing," Sasuke spoke up, gesturing to their camp, "You even knew right away that nothing had been through this area. How?"

Naruto paused as he was reaching for another fish. He grabbed it and sat back, sighing. "I'm...well, you guys know that didn't have any parents to take care of me growing up, and the only roof over my head is because of the old man," he said, referring to the Hokage, whom he viewed as a grandfather figure. "Sure, I get an allowance every month, but clothes and food are so damned expensive that I don't have enough for food, let alone bills when everything's said and done. So I started reading up on edible plants and stuff I could find outside the village, and hunted around for small game like rabbit and fish, and the occasional deer if I could sneak up on one quick enough."

Sakura looked at him, "You mean you were always alone?" She asked, tucking her legs up against her chest, "There was no one?"

Sasuke was now listening with renewed interest as Naruto shook his head, "Nah, I had Iruka-sensei, old man Hokage, Teuchi and Ayame," he said, sighing, "But that was out in the village. When I got home? It was so quiet. I could almost hear a pin drop on the streets outside it was that quiet."

Sakure bit her lip, feeling slightly guilty for her treatment of the blond through the years. Before she could say anything, however, Sasuke of all people spoke up. "I know how that feels." The Uchiha frowned, looking down into the flames. "When my clan was still around, it was so loud that sometimes I couldn't sleep at night. And now that they're gone...it's so quiet that if feels like I'm going crazy at times."

Looking between the two boys, the rosette sighed, "You know, before now, I thought you two were pretty lucky," the pair looked at her, "My parents drive me crazy. Even now that I'm technically an adult, they still treat me like a baby."

"You're lucky," the blond smiled at her, tossing his skewer and fish bones into the fire, "You have no idea how much I'd like to come home to hear someone nagging me about being dirty, or my grades, or even how I dress," he said, plucking at his orange and black jacket. "But...I don't even know what they looked like, my parents, I mean. I don't have any pictures, nothing that would tell me who they were, or even if they wanted me."

"They did," Sakura smiled at him, "And...I'm glad I'm on your team, Naruto. You, too, Sasuke."

Naruto looked at her, "How do you know?"

Sakura puffed her chest out, "Woman's intuition!"

Naruto laughed, smiling at her, the light of the flames doing strange things to the shadows there. Sakura couldn't fight back a traitorous little blush on her cheeks as she looked at the blond as he laughed, those shadows dancing across his face. "Well, whatever that's worth, thanks, Sakura."

Sasuke grunted out his thanks before he stood, and moved over to their shelter.

Naruto grinned for a moment, then started snickering. Sakura smiled at him, "What?"

"Well," Naruto chuckled, "I do believe that chimp was wearing people's clothes."

That did it.

Laughter cascaded across the camp, and the dozing Sasuke had a distinct feeling that he was the reason for it.

* * *

 _ **I started this story because 1) I like Naru/Saku stories because that must persistence should really pay off. 2) I need to go back and look at my other story, because I found another story that was so damned similar to it that I may as well be copying from that author, so out of respect to the elder story, I will be going back and and rewriting Broken Pieces. 3) I really wanted to write Anko as Team Seven's teacher. :p**_

 _ **I hope you all like it, and if you do, you know what to do. Please review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**2: Mountain Lilac**_

* * *

Within three days of entering the forty-fourth training ground, a routine began to form. Sakura, knowing very little about camping save for what she had learned during the survival course of academy, maintained the camp while Sasuke and Naruto hunted. The blond proved to be the better of the two when it came to tracking down any sort of prey that was located in the forest, while Sasuke held back and watched his back for large predators.

Tigers were not the only beasts in the forest they needed to worry about. The bears taking up residence in the grounds were well over twenty feet tall when they stood, and ten times more dangerous than a normal one around the village would be.

While checking his snares on the second day, Naruto had the bad luck of running into one such animal that had found one of his traps. Luckily for him Sasuke was with him, and quickly managed to dispatch the beast with demon wind shuriken through the skull. The result was that they had more than enough meat to last them for a while since Naruto placed it in his storage scrolls.

Sakura was quick to learn what herbs and plants were edible when she went with Naruto to forage. She hadn't known it, but wild grown vegetables were easier to find than she realized. On their third day in the forest he showed her a patch of wild carrots, and wild onions. The green shoots coming up from the onion were much more pungent than even a normal onion was, yet much smaller. As were the carrots.

"This is amazing," Sakura said as the two of them gathered the vegetables. "I never knew you could find all of this out in the wild."

Naruto looked over at her with a chuckle, "You'd be surprised." He smiled before moving over to her and digging around a small plant she hadn't noticed. He then yanked it out of the ground, "Look, these are potatoes!" He said, showing her the large brown tubers.

Sakura giggled as she added them to the pile, "So, can you point me toward the plant I can use to wash my hair?" She asked, twirling a few strands through around her finger, "Just kidding. No way there's a plant like...that..."

Naruto had moved away from her and taken out a kunai from his pouch. In front of him was a small hip-high bush with clusters of blue flowers all over it. Grasping a few of the clusters, he cut off a handful of the flowers, and brought them back to her, "You can use these."

"Seriously?" Sakura accepted the flowers, inhaling the scent of the blooms, "Hmm, they smell wonderful; what are they?"

"Mountain lilac." Naruto smiled, and chuckled, "You know, this is the first time I gave you flowers, and you accepted them, huh?" He grinned at her cheekily as she placed the flowers in her basket, giving him a mock frown.

"I'm desperate to wash my hair," she said, turning away from him. Picking up their baskets, the two Genin started back for camp, the rosette casting glances at the blond, "Can I ask you something?"

Naruto looked at her curiously, "Sure. What's on your mind?"

A faint blush dusted her cheeks, "Why...why did you start bugging me to go out on a date with you, anyway?"

His brow rose slightly at the question, "That's kind'a loaded." He said, thinking back on it with a smile, "Honestly, if I really had to think about it, it's because of when we first met."

"Naruto, we met in academy," she pointed out, "I didn't know you before that."

Naruto sighed, "Guess you don't remember," he frowned, shrugging, "Think back to when we were five. It was spring time, and you were out in the part making a flower wreath. I was playing by myself over by the trees, and you asked me over. We spent the whole day weaving flowers, and talking."

Sakura was taken aback by his response. She did remember a day like that. It was the same day that she'd met Ino. It was also when she had been told by some of the other kids that they weren't supposed to hang around a certain blond boy because he wasn't like them. He was different than the rest of them. "You liked me from back then?"

"Sure have," the blond smiled at her sadly, "But I guess something must have happened, because you started hanging more around Sasuke and his little club after that."

Feeling guilty for having forgotten, the girl looked down at the leaf covered ground. Thinking back on that day, she remembered well what had happened. After she had left Naruto in the field, a bunch of kids she didn't know started teasing her about her overly large forehead. Ino had come to her rescue, and the two had spent more time picking flowers. Naruto had disappeared somewhere, and when it was time to go, he had come back. When he called out to her, the parents were quick to shoo him away.

"I always thought that you wanted to get one up on Sasuke," Sakura admitted, frowning, "I guess that wasn't true, huh?"

Naruto shook his head, "Not really, though I did want your attention," he said, smiling at her, "I just...I just kind'a wanted my first friend back."

Before she could say anything more, they reached the camp where Sasuke was tending to the fire pit. "You two took your time," he commented as he noted the laden baskets they carried. "Good haul?"

"You could say that," the blond said, grinning, "You know you could try to help with the foraging? Just because you provided the meat, doesn't mean you can slack off, you know?"

"Like I'd know anything about edible wild plants," the Uchiha sighed, "You're better at this than I am."

Naruto looked at the dark-haired Uchiha in utter shock, "Huh, must be another sign that the world's gonna end."

"What's that?" Sasuke asked as Sakura set her basket down by the fire.

"You admitting that anyone is better at something than you are." Naruto snorted as he ducked under a piece of firewood. "Ha! Missed!"

Sasuke growled, "Don't tempt me to start using shuriken!"

"Now, now!" Sakura squeaked, trying to quell the brewing fight, "Admitting someone's better at something than you are isn't a bad thing." She said, interposing herself between the boys, "I mean, you're both better than I am at combat and stuff like hunting and foraging!"

"Ha!" Naruto snorted, "At least you're willing to put in some effort!" The blond snapped, pointing at Sasuke, "The only time this guy ever puts in any effort is when we need meat, and we haven't needed that since he took down that bear!"

"Your point?" Sasuke asked.

"You're getting fat just sitting around the fire," Naruto said, and jabbed him in the stomach with his elbow, making the Uchiha grunt and shove him away. "Keep this up, and you won't be mistaking for a chimp anymore, but a fat mountain gorilla!"

"Jackass!"

"Lazy bastard!"

"CUT IT OUT!" Sakura roared, setting a flock of birds into flying off over their heads. Unfortunately, they had also gotten so frightened by Sakura's shout that they relieved themselves just as they were taking off.

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes started twitching violently as they were peppered with droppings. Sakura had a look of utter disgust on her face as she shivered from the showering. Looking at the boys for a moment, she then snatched up the lilac Naruto had picked for her, and marched off toward bathing area of the river, "The first bath's mine!"

Naruto grimaced, "Dammit! This is all your fault!"

"My fault!?" Sasuke bristled, "How's this my fault?!"

"If you weren't so lazy about working - !"

"If you hadn't made Sakura shout -!"

"- this wouldn't have happened!" Both boy raged angrily. Unknown to them, however, Anko had been keeping an eye on them. The two of them arguing hadn't been all that surprising.

"Strong and tough they may be," the woman chuckled from her perch in the tree branches high above the little camp, "But they still look like a buch'a dorks, covered in bird crap!" She really couldn't wait to tell Iruka about this one.

Meanwhile...

' _Dammit,_ ' Sakura grumbled to herself as she stripped off her all but ruined clothes. ' _I can't believe those two blockheads. Arguing like a couple of kids!_ '

' _Cha! It's all that dummy, Naruto's fault!_ ' Her inner voice said, and for once, she found herself disagreeing with it.

She shook her head as she slipped into the cold waters of the stream, ' _But I was the one that shouted like that, and spooked those birds,_ ' she sighed as she let herself slip in all the way up to her neck in the water, rinsing herself off thoroughly before ducking her head under water to wash out her hair, ' _If I hadn't done that, we wouldn't be in this mess._ '

Really, the blond knucklehead had been a great help since they had started this exercise. His knowledge about living wild had been invaluable. True, she hadn't done much herself, but she helped where she could. Sasuke had...well, he _had_ taken down the bear. She sighed to herself as she swam back to shore, reaching for the lilac that Naruto had given her. ' _Naruto's right, though, Sasuke's kind of lazy when if comes to anything except for training._ ' Her inner voice was quiet. Shrugging it off, she wondered how she was supposed to use the flowers.

She settled for wetting them down and scrubbing them between her hands for a few seconds before a soapy lather formed. Delighted that she'd figured it out, she first lathered up her hair and shoulders thoroughly. ' _He's not fat, though,_ ' she admitted to herself, ' _He'trains each and every morning before Naruto, or me are even awake._ ' She said, realizing that Naruto had only said such a thing to get the Uchiha motivated. It was also when she realized that insulting someone about something was his way to get them to do something. It had worked several times when she thought about it. When Hinata Hyuga had been more conscious about her developing body, the other girls, and some of the boys had been rude about it.

Naruto had just waltzed up and told the girls to stop being so jealous, and the boys to just plain grow up and stop ogling Hinata. It hadn't ended quietly, but the blond had been backed by Kiba Inuzuka, how quite obviously had a crush on the Hyuga girl, much the same as Naruto did on herself. Of course, everyone knew of her own crush on Naruto. Except for Naruto himself, that is. Sakura's heart went out to her, but thinking back on how long Naruto had liked her, she couldn't help but feel a little ashamed for having forgotten...as well as _flattered_.

' _He does look handsome,_ ' she sighed to herself, leaning back to float, ' _And he's skilled, I guess...but Sasuke..._ ' she ducked under the water and came up shaking her head, ' _Why am I even having to think about it?_ ' She wondered, smacking herself in the cheeks, ' _I like Sasuke, and that's that!_ '

As she moved over to the shore to start cleaning up her outfit, she felt something brush against her leg, and squeaked in alarm as a sharp bite hit her lower left shin. And that bite grew into a horrible _pain_!

If Sakura's shout had frightened a flock of birds away, her scream would have scared them to death as she howled in pain, and hurried to the bank of the river. By the time she reached it, Naruto and Sasuke had come streaking through the bushes to see what was wrong. Sakura didn't even care that she was naked when they arrived because the pain was only getting worse as she hauled herself out of the water.

She looked down at her leg to see what had a hold of it, and found a large, brown... _creature_ clinging to her.

"Leech!" Naruto shouted as he skidded down on his knees, "Sakura, don't move, it'll only make it mad!"

"Get it off me!" She cried weakly. "It hurts!"

"Sasuke, help hold her leg while I pry it off!" Naruto commanded, taking a kunai from his pouch.

Sasuke had other ideas, though, as he formed a tiger hand seal, "Just let me burn the thing off!"

"Don't, it might be poisonous!" Naruto warned, but the Uchiha didn't stop.

"MOVE!" Was all the warning Naruto got before Sasuke let out a blast of fire toward the creature. It wasn't a full sized Fireball jutsu, but it was just right for burning the large leech off of Sakura's leg.

It shriveled, letting out a high pitched screech before expelling some sort of green liquid from its mouth, and fell off. Sakura shivered as greenish vein started running up her leg. Naruto had been right.

"Gods dammit, Sasuke!" Naruto roared, shrugging out of his jacket and wrapping it around the girl, "I told you not to do that!"

Sasuke frowned, not willing to admit his mistake, "I-it would've sucked her dry before we got it off of her!"

Naruto turned to the Uchiha with a look of cold fury, his eyes no longer their blue hues, but red, and slit like a cat's. "Just shut _up_!" He snarled, showing off four sharp canine-like teeth. Sasuke took an involuntary step back in fear as he took the girl in his arms, "We need to get her to a hospital, and now! I don't know any herbs that could help with this!" He pushed passed his teammate, and made for the gates.

(*)

Konoha Hospital...

The leech, as it turned out, was a highly venomous species that lurked either in streams or dropped from tree branches to latch on to its intended victims. When its prey thrashed, it released a low dose of its venom to immobilize it until it was done feeding. If it latched onto something smaller than the creatures living in the Forest of Death, I.E. a human, the victim would be dead within moments if they didn't get it off.

That being said, trying to remove the leech would force it to release more of its toxins. When Sasuke had burned the creature to death, it had released all the venom it had stored up. Thanks to Naruto's speed, Sakura reached the hospital just in time.

Now, both young men waited outside the Operating Room, Naruto pacing back and forth agitatedly. The door then opened to reveal the medical shinobi that had been on had.

"Is she gonna be alright?" Naruto asked as soon as she came out.

The woman nodded, "She'll be fine. Barely. The poison was very close to reaching her heart. If it had, she'd have been in much greater danger." She said, pulling off her mask, "You were very fortunate to have gotten her here so fast."

"Good," Sasuke found himself nodding to himself, "That's good."

The doctor smiled at both of them, "We're about to move her to a room, and you'll be able to see her this afternoon," she informed them, "Until then, I've sent for your sensei. She'll be here in a few minutes."

The doctor moved off, leaving the two boys alone.

Naruto stayed on his feet, glaring down at the Uchiha, who kept his head down, not willing to look at the blond. When he did raise his head, however, "Naruto, I'm - "

 **CRACK**

Sasuke was sent sprawling across the floor with a hard right hook to his face. He looked up at the blond in anger, but was stopped when he saw that look in his eyes once again. Those piercing red eyes bored a hole right through him. "I warned you, Sasuke," he growled out, snarling. "But you just wouldn't listen, would you?!"

He reached down and hauled the Uchiha to his feet, "This isn't the fucking academy, Sasuke!" He roared in his face, "We don't have a nurse or doctor on hand if we get hurt! What you did nearly got Sakura killed!"

"It still would've killed her if we waited to just pry it off!" Sasuke defended himself weakly.

"And that makes this better!?" Naruto hauled back for another hit.

But just as he was about to throw his punch, two massive snakes coiled around both teens, wrapping them up tightly. The two snakes hissed menacingly at the teens, flashing their fangs at the boys, preventing them from moving.

Anko appeared at the blond's shoulder, her eyes narrowed, "Do I need to have my little friends here put you in the hospital with Sakura?" She demanded angrily, walking around to the side to face both of them, her hands on her hips, shaking her head, "When I heard that I'd be taking you two on as students, I thought that at least you could try to work together." She said, shaking her head again, "I don't see a pair of shinobi in front of me...all I see is a pair of _rabid dogs_!" She snapped her fingers and the two snakes disappeared, making the two boys drop to the ground. "Did it occur to either of you that I was watching? Well I was!" She snapped, glaring at Sasuke, "Naruto was right to warn off burning that leech off. Not all of them are poisonous, but they will regurgitate the contents in their stomachs when burned, making it almost bad as venom. But you, of course, being the smart little fucker you are, didn't listen to your teammate's warning, when you readily admitted that he was better at foresting than you!"

She then turned to Naruto, "Naruto, I know your heart was in the right place, but getting that leech off should've been the first thing you did when you came upon Sakura, not that you did anything wrong, but you spent too much time talking, and less acting. Leeches that size can drain a human of blood in two minutes. Next time, move your ass." She said as the blond nodded shamefully.

She stepped back, "What was the worst part of that whole debacle was that you both spent time arguing while Sakura left to take a bath." She frowned, "You'd all been doing so well until then. But instead of going to watch her back so you could've gotten to her sooner, you spent the whole time bickering." She said, driving her point home with a cold glare that froze both of them in place, "Sakura was just trying to keep you from each other's throats, and you just kept on going at it like the rabid dogs that you are, and it nearly cost her her life!" She snarled, "Naruto was right; this isn't the academy anymore, even on training exercises like this one, especially considering where you were, your choices could and will draw a very fine line between living and dying. Now, this whole rivalry BS stops, and it stops right now, or so help me, you will both be expelled from my team, and never allowed to be shinobi again, am I making myself clear!?"

She released them from the Paralysis Jutsu, and both of them nodded furiously.

"Good," she snapped, looking to Sasuke, and took a scroll from her trench coat, "Sasuke, this scroll is filled with books about everything you need to know about surviving in the wild, including various flora and fauna located in the Forest of Death; _read it all_. You have three days." She commanded, handing him the scroll as the young Uchiha nodded.

As he took the scroll, she turned to the blond, "Naruto, your temper raises _certain chakra_ levels inside you." She said, giving the boy a look as he flinched, "You know what I'm talking about. Now, unless you want everyone to see those _puss-peepers_ of yours, go home, clean up, grab a bite to eat, and _calm the fuck down_. You get enough flack from the civilians, so don't give them any more ammo to use, alright?"

Naruto nodded, knowing without looking that his eyes had changed since leaving the forest. He rose, and moved passed her, his shoulders slumped. Anko reached down to help Sasuke up. "Sensei, what made his eyes change like that?" The young man asked, just short of demanding, "And...he had _fangs_! What the hell is he?"

Anko shook her head, "That's something you'll have to take up with him," she said, shrugging, "But I will tell you this. The Hokage has a law out about his condition. Anyone that speaks of it is immediately put to death, unless Naruto himself is the one willingly speaking about it. Ask all you want, but still, he's the one that has to do the answering. Anything else might get someone killed."

(*)

Naruto did exactly what Anko asked of him. He went home, bathed, got a fresh set of clothes, and went to binge on ramen. And still he felt utterly furious. Now he was walking the streets of Konoha, hands stuffed in his pockets to hide his claws, his eyes cast down so he wouldn't frighten anyone, heading for home.

"You seem deep in thought for one so young, Naruto," the wizened voice of Hiruzen said as the boy walked along. Startled out of his thoughts, the boy turned and saw the man walking alongside him as if he'd been their the entire time. "A fine day such as this shouldn't be spent with a heart full of anger."

Naruto sighed, "Hey, Old Man," the blond sighed, frowning, "Aren't you supposed to be hip deep in paperwork?"

Hiruzen chuckled, sticking his pipe in his mouth, "Well, you see, I figured that an old man such as myself should enjoy his possibly last doddering years a bit more than I have been, so I created a few Shadow Clones to fill in for me." He said, "Besides, I wanted to see how my pseudo grandchild was doing after he graduated in such a manner." He said, referring to the theft of the Scroll of Seals.

Naruto frowned, returning his gaze to the ground, "I honestly thought I was doing good," he sighed, his eyes beginning to return to normal, "But...Sakura got hurt...and I wasn't fast enough to help. And Sasuke made it worse, and I -"

"You lost your temper," the Hokage surmised, sighing, "this has been a problem with all the previous bearers of your particular burden, my young friend."

Naruto looked at him in interest, "Really? How did they deal with it?"

Hiruzen chuckled, "Well, I can honestly say that you did everything they did, save for getting sauced off your ass," he chuckled, remembering one such incident with Mito Uzumaki-Senju. That had been a hell of a night, especially for poor Hashirama. He noted the grimace on Naruto's face, and laughed harder, "Oh, don't worry my dear boy, I'm certain you won't have to go that far!"

"Did any of them have someone the love hurt right in front of their eyes?" The blond asked, frowning.

"Several times," he nodded, puffing out a ring of smoke, "We shinobi are those who endure, but that does not mean enduring is easy." He said, "Life is made up of meetings and partings, that is the way of it." He said, "But to endure those meetings and partings is what it means to be a shinobi. Not to endure pain or suffering, but to accept those meetings, and endure the partings that are certain to come."

"I'm not ready to part with anyone," Naruto sighed, thinking back to that horrible moment when he saw Iruka shielding him from a giant shuriken, the weapon stuck in his back. And the moment when he saw Sakura growing pale with blood loss, and poison rushing through her veins.

"No one ever is," the Hokage smiled, "I was not ready to part with my beloved wife, nor was I ready to part with many more when their time had come." He took another long drag of his pipe, letting it out in a long stream, "And I can assure you that I will not be ready when my time comes, though I will accept it as it is, and pray that I have done all that I possibly could for this village when my time comes."

"So tell me," he said, looking up at the tall blond, "Does Sakura mean that much to you?"

Naruto nodded, "It's strange, now that I think about it," he relented, "Aside from when we were kids, she's never treated me kindly, or anything like that. But still, I want her to look at me more than I want the people of this village to stop treating me like a ghost." He said, "I want to feel what it's like to hold her, and be held by her. People tease her about her forehead, when I think she's fine just the way she is. She's tried makeup on to make herself look pretty when I always thought she was beautiful without it. And I've looked at other girls, but none of them..."

"None of them have the draw you feel for Sakura," Hiruzen nodded, smiling slightly, "Biwako was much the same with me when things started out. Gods that woman could give out a tongue-lashing like a whip," he chuckled fondly, "She was also the smartest kunoichi in my graduating class if you can believe it, much like Sakura was."

"She didn't have a crush on an Uchiha, did she?" Naruto asked with a deadpan.

"No, he was a Nara," Hiruzen frowned, deadpanning right back. It took all of a moment before both of them started laughing about the whole thing. "But, even with the war raging, I kept in touch with her as much as I possibly could, speaking to her when we met, bringing her flowers when she was feeling ill, or sad, and bringing her chocolates when she was angry with me."

"Sakura was bitten by a poisonous leech," the boy said, frowning, "I guess I could bring her some flowers, and some chocolates, huh?"

Hiruzen smiled, "Quite a good idea." He said, moving along down the streets, "I hear that the Akimichi have a very fine chocolate shop just beside their clan compound if you happen to head that way. And I know that Inoichi's wife runs a flower shop just by the shopping district."

Naruto smiled at the man, "Thanks, Grandpa, I needed that," he said, referring to their talk, "I'll see you later, okay? Make sure my team's first mission is something really awesome, alright?" He said, taking off down the streets.

Hiruzen gave him a small wave as he went, "I'll be sure to do that, just as soon as the Fire Daimyo's wife visits. She frequently loses something precious to her whenever she's in the village, and sometimes even when she's not, and it normally winds up here."

"Cool, we'll take that one!" Naruto called back over his shoulder.

Hiruzen nodded, and smirked, "Sucker."

"Now that was totally mean of you, Lord Third," Anko said from above the man as she perched on the roof of a building, her legs crossed and a huge amused grin across her face, "tricking him into asking for the old "Catch Tora" spiel like that."

"It pays well for a D-rank mission," he shrugged simply, "And I figure poor Sakura will need something easy since she's likely to be weak from the poison for a short time, and catching Tora is... _moderately_ easy."

Anko snorted, "If catching that cat is anything like catching is mama, then you and I have very different views on easy," she said, thinking back to her days catching Tora the First, and shivered, " _Very_ different."

(*)

The next day, Sakura awoke to find herself, not on her bedroll in the forest, but on a bed, not much softer than the forest floor she had nearly gotten used to sleeping on. "What...am I..." she wondered quietly as she took in her surroundings. She was hooked up to an IV drip, and she felt horribly weak. She noted that her skin was also paler than usual. And it was then that she remembered what had happened in the forest. "A leech...I was almost killed by a damned leech!" She bemoaned, covering her face in shame, "I really am weak!"

A giggle sounded from the doorway, "Well, anyone would feel weak after losing nearly _three_ pints of blood to one of those bloodsuckers, even a small one like the one that attacked you."

"That thing was _small_?" The rosette frowned, "What's a big one look like?"

"A brown, striped tortoise," Anko supplied, making the girl blanch. The one that had bitten her was only a _quarter_ of that size! "But what very nearly did you in was the poison it released when Sasuke burned it off. Naruto would've scraped it off easily with a sharpened kunai, but our little talking chimp got impatient, and forced it to empty its venom sacks. You would've ended up in the hospital either way, but with less to worry about if Naruto had had more time to work. I gave them both a talking to, so things should get better from this point on."

Sakura looked at her sensei, "You mean we still get to be a team?"

Anko giggled and sauntered over to her, sitting on the edge of the bed, "But of course, my dear little pinkie." She smiled, patting the girl's hair, "The three of you have so damned much potential, it's actually frightening. You and Naruto especially, Sakura. I see you becoming a fine kunoichi, even capable of rivaling Tsunade. And Naruto's well on his way to becoming a tracker if his skills in the forest were anything to go on."

Again, Sakura felt a pang of guilt. "I've been horrible to him."

Anko smiled and pointed to her bedside table, "Well, our little blondie doesn't seem to think so," she said, and Sakura turned to see what she was talking about. On the table she found what looked to be the Akimichi's finest box of molten core chocolates, and a small vase of familiar flowers.

"Mountain lilac."

* * *

 _ **I'm glad for the reviews from the previous chapter, and I hope this story takes off better. Anyway, Team Seven isn't doing too good, but not too bad either with their learning curb as Sakura gets a nasty surprise while Sasuke's impatience puts her life in greater risk, and catches a glimpse of something he shouldn't have as Naruto's inner demon comes to the front.**_

 _ **I hope you all liked this chapter, and if you did, please leave a review and tell me what you think.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN:**_ I've decided to make this a short story, and not go into the whole Fourth Shinobi war skit. While there will be action and all that, it's mostly going to be romance between the two MC's.

* * *

 _ **3: Truth**_

* * *

Sakura would be forced to stay in the hospital for another week before she was finally freed, and allowed to return to active duty. In that time, both of her male teammates were put through the proverbial gauntlet by their sensei. While they were allowed to go on missions, both were forced to work doubly hard to earn Sakura's pay as well.

Sakura had protested the form of punishment, but Anko was adamant about it, and wouldn't be swayed. Sasuke and Naruto had no problems with it either, both feeling responsible about Sakura's condition. It also provided multiple opportunities for the two rivals to work together. Sakura felt slightly jealous that they were going out on missions outside of the village, the girl herself having never been allowed outside the walls as a child.

Her parents had been heavily protective of her, even now that she was a kunoichi. Which brought up another problem the girl had to face. Her parents, being former shinobi themselves, wanted her to have nothing to do with their former line of work. Neither of them had made it passed their Genin days, and were slightly bitter towards the profession, though many people they called friends were shinobi themselves.

The moment her mother, Mebuki Haruno, had heard about her hospitalization, the woman had rushed to her side, and demanded that she quit at once. Sakura and her mother were very much alike in many aspects. The most prominent likeness was their shared tempers. Kizashi, her father, knew well enough not to get in the middle of the two when a full blown row was brewing unless his wife demanded his opinion. It was from him that the girl got her pink hair.

Of course, the man wanted her to quit as well, but respected her enough to allow her to continue unless she started frequenting the hospital as a patient more than he cared to see, which was already one time too many.

It took Anko of all people to get the girl's mother off of her back for the time being by threatening to call the Hokage out on them for harassing her student, who, as soon as she took her first steps as a kunoichi, was deemed an adult, and more than capable of making her own decisions, as well as finding an apartment away from her very much overprotective parents.

That shut the woman up.

Sakura, as a kunoichi, still lived with her parents, of course, but it was common for shinobi families to remain in a tight-knit, but for some striking out on their own was also common place. Point of fact, the only reason that the girl hadn't moved out was the sad fact that she hadn't really worked enough to make any money to pay for a place, and she wanted to be sure that she could actually make it on her own.

Finally, however, things settled down after she began to recover, and got out of the hospital.

What had gotten on her nerves the most, however, was the fact that neither Sasuke or Naruto would visit her apart from Naruto's little delivery while she was asleep. The chocolates were delicious, of course, and the flowers had quickly become her favorites over cherry blossoms for which she was named, but she wanted to see him... _them_.

She kept telling herself that, but the embarrassing fact of the matter was that her feelings were completely muddled after their time in the Forest of Death. Sasuke, of course, was still the most eligible bachelor in their village, apart from the legendary Copy Ninja she had heard about from Ino. But having gotten to know him for that short time, she realized that all he did was train, train, and train. His mind was set in getting stronger so that he could put an end to his brother, and nothing else was going to get in the way of that. Despite Anko's warning, Sasuke Uchiha was not thinking of the future.

And then there was her blond teammate. Always grinning or smiling, even when things looked sour. She'd never seen him truly angry except when the leech had taken hold of her, and Sasuke had burned it off. She recalled a moment, before the poison began to effect her, his normally beautiful blue eyes turn a shade of red so dark she thought she was looking at someone completely different.

"Hey, Forehead!" Sakura winced as she was brought out of her thoughts by her least favorite nickname. She rolled her eyes as she left the hospital, and was greeted by her former rival. Ino gave her a wave as she came up to her, smiling from ear to ear, "Finally out, huh?"

Sakura nodded, sighing, "Yeah, finally," she said, and smiled at her before grabbing the young woman in a hug, "It's great to see you again, Ino!"

Ino squeaked as Sakura's natural strength threatened to crack a few ribs, "Urk, g-great to see you, too, Sakura...ribs! My ribs!"

Sakura released her a second later, "Sorry about that," she giggled, "What are you doing here, anyway? Aren't you busy with your team?"

Ino shook her head whilst rubbing her left side, "Nah, we've got the day off," she said, and smiled back, "So, how is it being on a team with Sasuke and Naruto?" She asked, practically drooling for details, "I bet Sasuke's amazing as usual! He's always been so cool since academy!"

Sakura wanted to agree with her, but..."Well, I can tell you that he's definitely dedicated," she relented, scratching the side of her nose, "But really, the shocker came from Naruto." Ino perked up at this, sensing a tidbit of good gossip. "He pretty much out-shined Sasuke as far as our training went. He's a lot smarter than we gave him credit for."

"Naruto?" Ino frowned, giving her friend a look, "Are we talking about the same Naruto that loved playing pranks on the entire class, and the faculty? The guy that graffitied the Hokage monument like a dozen times?"

"The very same," she giggled, remembering some of his more stellar pranks, including planting a super-sized stink bomb in the faculty room when Tsume Inuzuka had been on hand. That had been an interesting day. Poor Kiba had complained for a solid month about the smell in the academy being too much for him to handle.

Ino shook her head, "Okay, let's say I believe you," she said, feeling a little skeptic, "What's he out-shined Sasuke in?"

"Can we talk while we walk?" Sakura asked, "I want to let my parents know I'm out."

"Sure, but spill," she insisted, "I heard from Hinata's sensei that you guys got saddled with a Jonin from the T&I department."

"Anko Mitarashi," Sakura supplied fondly, "She's not so bad, really."

"Pfft," Ino waved her off, "Just tell me what you meant about Naruto beating Sasuke?"

Sakura thought for a moment, "Well, you see...Sasuke's kind'a...really...lazy."

"Lazy?"

"Lazy," Sakura nodded, frowning, "I was surprised about it, too, but all he ever does is train himself into the ground, but that's it. He never helped me, or Naruto while we were in the forest on our survival training. Naruto practically did everything."

Ino frowned, crossing her arms under her chest, "Okay, so he's a typical jock, big deal."

"Well, Naruto has more muscles than he does, so what does that tell you?" She countered, immediately regretting it as Ino's face lit up like a firecracker, "Uh, oops?"

"You'vre seen them without their -?!"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Sakura shouted rapidly, "I mean I've seen them without shirts, but that's it!"

Ino was drooling by this point, "Oh, gods! What I wouldn't give to have a look at the hunk of man meat!" She squealed, making Sakura flustered beyond belief. Did the crazed blonde have any idea what that sounded like, and in public no less? She turned to the rosette with stars in her eyes, "And you're telling me Naruto's more hunky than Sasuke?"

Sakura blushed madly as she remembered both boys coming back from bathing once. Sasuke at least had his jacket hanging around his shoulders, but Naruto was outright shirtless. The blond had looked like a spiky-haired stone carving come to life! "Well, yes, yes he is." She admitted.

Ino cooed in delight, "You are so lucky!" She sighed dramatically, comically slumping, "I got stuck with the old Ino-Shika-Cho spiel. Meaning I've got Choji and Shikamaru as my eye candy, or lack there of." She moaned, making Sakura giggle at her expense, "Speaking of Naruto, do you know if he's got himself a sweetheart?"

Sakura jolted a little. ' _Naruto with a another girl?_ ' She felt a enormously unexpected spike of jealous wash right over her like a tidal wave. "Uh, no, I don't think he does...why?"

Ino giggled, "Well, you see, about a week ago, he came into my family's shop while I was minding the register, and he had a box of molten-core chocolates under his arm, you know those heavenly bonbons the Akimichi make?" Sakura nodded, immediately blushing, "Well, when he came in, he also had these beautiful bundles of magenta mountain lilac, and asked if he could buy a vase for them." She giggled, "I tried to tease it out of him, but he wouldn't tell me who they were for. Mum was the word with him for once!"

Sakura felt insanely guilty, "Uh, Ino?" Her friend turned to her, "I...I was the one he gave those to." She admitted, much to her friend's shock, "The chocolates were really good, too..." she finished lamely as Ino's eyes went wider than a Sake cup, "Uh, Ino? Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" Ino muttered, then beamed, "Sakura! I didn't know Naruto could be that sweet! Lilacs symbolize so much about the heart and the soul!" She gushed, "Do you know what magenta ones mean?"

"N-no, but - "

"First love," Ino simpered dreamily, "Heavens, if a boy gave those kind of flowers to me, I wouldn't care what he'd look like, he'd be worth a few dates at least to see if we fit together!"

Sakura blushed all the way to her hairline, "F-f-fit t-t-to-together?!"

"Not like that, you pervert!" Ino snipped, giggling, "I mean that if we were a good match!" She sighed in delight, "Man, and you got them from Naruto of all people! Now I'm actually feeling jealous!"

Sakura frowned, "Well, I don't really think that Naruto knows what they - "

"Let me stop you right there, sister," Ino giggled, "I asked him if he knew what they meant."

"Oh, gods..." Sakura was mortified, "You didn't!"

"I did," Ino giggled, then gave her the softest smile she'd ever seen on the blonde gossip queen. "And you know that he had the tenderest look on his face when he told me that they were meant for his first, and _only_ love?"

' _Only_ ,' Sakura shivered, her inner voice strangely quiet. She frowned for a moment, "Uh, Ino, you hear a lot, right?"

"But of course," she said with a slight flourish, "You are talking to a Yamanaka, and we are known for being able to read people like open books, whether they're talking or not." She giggled, "What do you want to know?"

Sakura sighed, "What have you heard about Naruto; and I mean from the older generations, not the ones from our class."

Ino looked at her a little surprised, "Seriously?"

"Seriously, Ino, I wanna know," Sakura said as they passed into her neighborhood.

Ino crossed her arms again, "Okay, so, I don't know how true it is, because it happened when Naruto would've still been a baby," she said, sighing, "A few of the older shinobi said that it was his fault that a few of their family members were killed. And this is like right at fifteen years ago, understand? I don't know how they could call him a murderer when he was just a baby?"

Sakura was equally confused. Fifteen years ago had been the fabled Kyuubi attack. What did Naruto have to do with that? "Anything else?"

"Only that most of the older shinobi don't like him at all," she said, "Same reasons, different person, same target. Only a few of them actually think he's going to be a good shinobi himself."

"Like all of the Jonin sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Bingo," Ino said, "You got an idea, there, Forehead?"

Sakura shrugged, wondering just what was going on. "Uh, Ino, I think I'm gonna go have a talk with Naruto, instead. You mind?"

Ino shook her head, "Not a bit, but I think he's going out on an out-of-village mission today." She said, "Actually, I think he might already be gone. I saw Anko-sensei at the gate earlier."

Sakura groaned, "I'll stop by anyway to see if he's still there." She sighed, and bade her friend good-bye before jogging off.

(*)

Hiruzen chuckled as he watched the young woman jogging through the village via his crystal ball, and smiled, "Such is young love." He chuckled, and rose, "Yugao, I'll be heading out for a bit," he said to the unseen Anbu in the room, "Accompany me, won't you?"

"Of course, sir," said a woman's disembodied voice.

The Third Hokage smiled and vanished from the room in a swirl of smoke.

(*)

"Naruto lives _here_?" Sakura said out loud in astonishment. The apartment building she had arrived at had seen far better days, and looked somewhat unfit to live in given the decrepit state of the outer walls. Still, it was the right address, so she ascended the stairs, and found the right apartment number. Unlike the walls of the building's exterior, the walls on his floor were...clean, particularly around his door.

The door was scored and scarred, however, and looked to be barely standing.

"What in the world?" She frowned, and rapped on the door lightly, "Naruto? Are you in?"

"He's long since left, my dear," said a wizened voice behind her.

Startled, Sakura whirled around with a shriek, backing away hard into Naruto's door, and...crashed through it. The Third Hokage nearly chuckled at the sight when the girl looked around herself in embarrassment. "L-Lord Third?"

"Good day, Sakura," he chuckled as the girl rolled to her feet, dusting herself off. "Forgive me for frightening you, but a kunoichi should always keep on her toes, you know?"

"Y-Yes, I...what am I gonna do about this?!" Sakura wailed, looking at the mess she had caused, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean - "

"Sakura, look around yourself," he said, pointing with his pipe, "The room itself is a mess beyond the door, my dear."

Sakura looked around, frowning, but soon found out what he meant. The apartment was piled with old instant ramen cups stacked in odd places, as well as other food containers strewn all over the place. Only the bed and the bathroom area was spared. "Oh, boy, it's a disaster in here!"

"It is indeed," Hiruzen chuckled, "Rather than simply worry about the door, why not help me clean this mess while Naruto's away?" He smiled, "I'm sure he would appreciate it."

Sakura giggled, "Well...do you know where he keeps the garbage bags?"

It took a little doing, but between the young kunoichi and the elder shinobi, the apartment was cleaned of garbage and scrubbed hard enough that Hiruzen thought that the paint would peel at one point. Sakura was just finishing up washing Naruto's bedding and hanging it out to dry while the man had Yugao procure some tea from his home, which was now on the brew.

As Sakura finished her work, she sighed, and sat across from the village leader, frowning, "Sir, why does Naruto live in a place like this?" She gestured to the apartment complex in general, "This place looks ready to fall down around his ears."

Hiruzen sighed as he poured the two of them a cup of tea each, "In truth, I've asked him the same question," he said, taking an appreciative sip, "As you might know, my dear, Naruto has very few worldly possessions." He gestured around the spartan rooms of his apartment, "And, as he grew up in this very room, he's grown quite attached to it." He said, sighing, "It's quite possibly the only real home that he knows."

"And all this junk food?" She gestured to the multiple piles of garbage bags outside the door, "He can't possibly live off instant food alone?"

Hiruzen chuckled, "For a time, he did, but I thankfully managed to teach him how to cook," he said, smiling, "And, to my surprise, he learned to forage for himself outside of the village walls, and in some of the training grounds. From what some of my Anbu have witnessed, he rarely needs to buy food unless it's winter time when most edible plants have gone from the world until the spring breathes life into them."

Sakura took a small sip of her tea, not really tasting it as several questions still floated around in her mind, but she was unsure if she should voice them to the man. As if picking up on her worry, the man chuckled, "A foolish question is only ever the one that is never asked, Sakura," he smiled, "Worry not, only Yugao is here to hear us, and I can assure you that she won't breathe a word of this to anyone should you ask that it not."

Sakura bit her lip, and took a deep breath, "Naruto...is hated by the older shinobi...because they think he's a murderer." She shook her head, "I can't believe that. He doesn't seem the type to murder someone, and the way they all talk, it was the night of the Kyuubi attack." Hiruzen remained silent as the girl spoke, silently smiling on the inside, "Naruto wouldn't have been more than a day or so old when all of this happened."

"Not even that, my dear," he said, "Naruto was born on the tenth of October, just as the leaves were beginning to turn in preparation for the fall. It was to be a joyous day when he came into the world, yet it became one of sorrow."

Sakura's eyes widened impossibly, "But the tenth was - "

"The day that the Kyuubi attacked, yes," he nodded, "You are quite smart, my dear. Please, tell me the thoughts that are bothering you."

Sakura looked at him, and began to tremble. Though she knew he was a gentle man, this was her Hokage, haled as the God of Shinobi, a man to be feared and respected. The calm exterior, she knew, could be hiding something that she didn't need to see. "Naruto...he's related to the Kyuubi somehow, isn't he?"

"Indeed he is," Hiruzen set his cup down, "Seeking knowledge to better one's self is a noble cause, and seeking knowledge to aid another is even more so, but seeking knowledge to harm another is a great sin, indeed." He said, no hint of anger or malice in his voice, "Tell me, my child, for what purpose do you seek this knowledge?"

Sakura shook her head, "I...I don't really know, honestly," she said, "But it's not to hurt Naruto, so you don't have to worry - "

"Oh, but I do," Hiruzen sighed, "You see, bar having any sort of parentage to help him grow, this whole thing has made the boy the village pariah." He said, "I've looked after Naruto for most of his life like one of my grandchildren, so I can't help but worry for him from time to time, especially when someone he hold so dear is close to a secret that could ruin his relationship with them."

"I could never hate him," she admitted, smiling a little, "He's...he saved my life...he's so warm and caring, even when I know that some people try to hurt him in other ways, he just keeps smiling. When I'm near him, I can't stop smiling. He makes me laugh so hard sometimes that my belly hurts. And when we were in the Forest of Death, he..." She trailed off, a realization beginning to settle in as the elder smiled at her kindly.

"I have heard enough," he smiled, reaching out to pat her hand, and sat back, "Naruto, like many others throughout the land, is our village's Jinchuuriki." Sakura looked at him with confusion, the term unfamiliar to her, "A Jinchuuriki translates roughly to a human sacrifice. Not in the normal sense mind you, but due to the fact the moment he became one, he was set for greatness beyond that of any shinobi that now resides in this village."

"But why do people hate him if he's going to be so great?" Sakura asked, somewhat angry.

Hiruzen sighed, "Because, my dear girl, Naruto isn't just related to the Kyuubi, he is its jailer."

Sakura nearly dropped her tea. "J-Jailer?"

"That is what I said, my dear," Hiruzen sighed, "That is what a Jinchuuriki is. A person that has the unfortunate fate of having one of the nine Tailed Beasts sealed away inside of them." He said, watching Sakura become paler and paler with each word that he spoke. "Normally, we try to keep their identities a secret so that they can have some form of normalcy in their lives, but sooner or later, someone finds out. With Naruto, hatred of the Kyuubi grew to hatred to hatred of its container. Naruto was outed as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi before he was old enough to understand, and no one wanted anything to do with him."

"But why - ?"

"Hatred can make people do terrible things, Sakura," he told her, taking another sip of his tea, "That includes the ultimate cruelty that makes a child believe he doesn't exist."

Sakura felt herself go cold, "That's why he pulled so many pranks."

"It is," he said, nodding, "He figured out that if he caused enough trouble, then others would see him, and he would know that he truly exists."

It was quiet for a long time between the young kunoichi and the Hokage, the girl trembling with barely contained rage. Then, the Hokage rose, "I would like to ask a favor of you, Sakura." He said, making the girl look up at him, "Right now, Naruto and Sasuke are out on border patrol, but once they return, and you rejoin them, I will be having your team go out, and retrieve someone for me."

"Retrieve someone?"

"Yes," Hiruzen smiled at her, "It is high time that I retired, and spent what little time I may have left with my family," he said, sighing, "but that is not the favor I would ask of you." He looked down at her, "Naruto has very few that openly care for him, myself, Iruka, and Anko being among them...so I would ask you to look after him for me. He needs someone else in his life."

Sakura looked down at the table, "I've...not been the best of friends with him..."

"That was in the past," he chuckled, "Now, however, I feel that there has been a shift in the wind surrounding the two of you." He smiled at her, "You care very deeply for him."

"W-Well, yes, I do, but - "

"And," Hiruzen went on, "He loves you with all his heart."

That stopped her, because she knew that much was true to a certain point. He had all but admitted it to her when they were out foraging. "Y-You're talking like you know when you'll die."

Hiruzen chuckled, "No one really knows when they'll pass from this world, Sakura," he said, smiling, "But as I once told Naruto, one must be prepared to part from those they love at any point in time. All we can do is prepare, and prepare those we love for that time, and make sure that they can go on without us."

"And...you're sure that Naruto would - "

"He is my grandson in all but blood, Sakura," he said, sighing, "Aside from Iruka, whom he views as a father figure, I am the only real family he has ever known." He smiled, "Though, soon, however, I must recall someone to the village that would view him as a child of their own as well. If the two of them meet, Naruto may react violently, and that would cause the Kyuubi to react as well." He sighed, making the girl frown, "Strong emotions like anger, and fear cause the chakra from the Kyuubi, which also courses through Naruto's natural system, to take the forefront. His features will change to those of the Kyuubi itself. I've seen it happen."

He sighed once more, and started for the door, "I'll have someone come by and fix this before the day is out." He said over his shoulder, "And thank you for cleaning this place up. Naruto will certainly appreciate it."

Sakura watched the man go, frowning at everything she had learned. It was far more than she had bargained for, but she was happy in sense to finally know something about the blond young man that seemed to occupy her mind so much lately.

But to come to find out that he, of all people, held something so dangerous inside of himself. And that the village hated him so much for keeping the Kyuubi locked away. She, of course, knew the story about how the Fourth Hokage had destroyed the monster fifteen years ago, but now she knew the truth of the matter. And Naruto had been suffering in silence for it.

' _Does he know?_ ' She wondered, and then shook her head, ' _Of course he does; don't be stupid, Sakura,_ ' she berated herself, ' _But how do I...what do I say to him?_ ' She got up to take in the laundry she had set out to dry, noting that it was already dark outside. She had spent the entire remaining day at the blond's apartment.

She felt tired as she made up his bed, nor did she feel like facing her parents at the moment with so much on her mind. She sat on the edge of his bed, leaning her head against the wall. Without really meaning to do it, she drifted off to sleep.

(*)

"Keep up, you two!" Anko shouted over her shoulder, "We're right along the border, so any other shinobi could take a shot at us!"

"You got it, Sensei," Naruto called out while Sasuke remained quiet. The two were still on rocky terms, but they were tolerant of each other, even though Naruto still blamed Sasuke for what happened to Sakura.

Currently the team of three was bounding through the trees ghosting the border of the Land of Earth, Rock shinobi territory. The two younger shinobi knew very little about the shinobi themselves, other than the fact that they had a deep-seeded hatred of Leaf shinobi thanks to the Fourth Hokage's actions during the war.

"Once we make the sweep, we're heading back to toward the Leaf," Anko called out again, "But keep your eyes peeled. It's too quiet for my liking. We should have at least seen a sign of other patrols out this way, especially this close to the border."

"Do you think it's an ambush?" Sasuke spoke up.

Anko frowned at the thought, but didn't rule it out. The current Tsuchikage was known as a fence-sitter, but that didn't mean his men were. Glancing back at the young blond, her frown deepened, ' _If they spotted him, then..._ ' She stopped and landed on a branch as her two youngsters landed beside her.

All of them crouched down, the elder kunoichi scowling, "You're right, Sasuke," she said, "This is an ambush."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "What do we do?"

"Naruto, you've got good eyes, sharp ears, and an even sharper nose," she said, singling out the blond tracker of their team, "Can you pick up anything?"

Naruto nodded and took a short jump to a neighboring tree. He then closed his eyes, focusing on his senses.

A small breath of wind ghosted through the trees, bringing with it the a quiet keening sound ' _Wire?_ ' He thought, listening closer, ' _No, wires.'_ He corrected himself, and caught the scent of oil. Blade oil. It was different than what he and his teammates used to keep rust from their weapons, a different ingredient? With the scent of oil came the scent of sweat. ' _One...two...no, there's four of them,_ ' he frowned, ' _One of them's a woman, probably the medic, our their secret weapon...she smells like...ash?_ '

He frowned and looked back at his team, "Four of them, along with traps, dead ahead of us." He said, "The area's littered with razor wire."

Sasuke blinked, impressed. ' _I didn't know he was that good at tracking?_ '

Anko smirked, "Alright, good work, Naruto." She said, gesturing for him to come back. As he landed next to them, she bit the inside of her thumb, "Summoning Jutsu!" She hissed, slamming her hand against the branch. A puff of smoke erupted, and four large snakes appeared, earch with the thickness of a human arm.

"You summoned us, Mistress?" The largest of the group hissed, flashing a pair of long, sharp fangs.

Anko smiled at the serpents, "Sorry to have to make you work so soon, but we have four enemy shinobi ahead of us, along with a large number of traps." She said, "While I can't tell you to kill them, I do need you to raise some hell and chase them back across the border."

The snake chuckled, and dipped his head, "Consider it done, Mistress." He said, "But I will not make any promises. It has been a long time since I have tasted human, and my fangs do so ache to sink into something so soft."

Anko just waved them off as they slithered down the trunk of the tree, and down into the forest floor. She turned to her students, "We'll hunker down here for a little while, then we move out back to the village when my summons let us know about the Rock shinobi. Until then, let's get comfy." She said, "Naruto, I want you to find yourself a hiding spot and keep those ears and your nose open. If they fail, we'll need to know right away."

Naruto didn't waste any time before he launched himself into the greenery above them, immediately disappearing from sight. Sasuke frowned, "How does a person with that much orange on manage something like that?"

Anko giggled, "You'd be surprised. But when we get back to the village, I'm going to have to ask the Hokage about letting you learn a jutsu invented by one of the Sannin. He could literally disappear right in front of you, and not even move."

"Sounds useful." Sasuke smirked.

"Yeah, it is, but he used it in the worst possible way," Anko groaned, "He used it to spy on women while they were bathing in the hot springs."

Sasuke looked at her as if one of her snakes had sprouted out of her nose, "You're kidding?"

"This is the one time I kid you not, my oh-so-cute little Genin." She said with all seriousness. "He seriously invented it for that sole purpose. But as luck would have it, it served a greater purpose to our Anbu forces - "

Naruto suddenly dropped out of the branches, "It worked," he said, "I can hear them moving away from us, as well your snakes chasing after them." He explained, "One of them must have gotten hit, though, I can only hear three of them."

"Good," Anko grinned. "Then let's get back to the village and report this to Lord Third. He'll want to know if those boulder brains are up to something."

With that the trio lept off into the forest.

Naruto smiled as they went, hoping that Sakura would soon be out of the hospital -

"Earth Style: Earth Spear!"

Naruto whipped around just in time to see a large black shaft of stone coming right at Sasuke's exposed back. Acting before he had time to think, he doubled back and shoved the Uchiha out of the line of fire...only to take the spear himself directly in the chest. The impact set his ears to ringing, drowning out all other sounds as he fell from the branches.

He saw Sasuke breathing fire furiously at another person while Anko went after another. Soon, however, the forest floor caught up to him, and he knew nothing else except the dull ache in his body.

 _{Drip}_

 _'Water?_ ' He thought tiredly.

{ _Drip_ }

He opened his eyes and found himself in a very strange place. He lay in a shallow pool of water, staring up at a massive barred cell. Behind it, he could hear the breathing of something truly massive.

A growl erupted from the cell, along with the thunderous crash of a massive footstep. " **Pathetic**." The creature said as Naruto now peered up at two gigantic red eyes. " **Putting yourself in danger for that Uchiha weakling.** " It said as its form became slightly visible. Nine thrashing tails waved about in an angry manner as a sneering smile appeared beneath those glaring red eyes. " **Any other day I would simply sit by, and watch as you slowly bled to death,** " it sneered coldly, " **Unfortunately, should you lose your life, then I shall also perish.** " A miasma of red bubbling chakra leaked out from the bars, and swirled around the blond, " **Be grateful that you still yet have use to me.** "

Back in the real world, Sasuke kicked an attacking Iwa shinobi away from him and breathed out a massive ball of flames at him, "Bastards!" He turned his attention to the one that Anko was fighting before another landed in his path. The two of them locked blades with their kunai, sparks flying from the metal, when a massive chilling wave of raw killing intent washed over them.

Their battle halted.

"Oh, shit, I was afraid of that!" Anko shouted, and looked at the shinobi she had been fighting, "If you're smart, you'll leave before he gets back up here!"

"Piss on that you Leaf bitch!" He growled, preparing to attack again when a monstrous roar rose up from beneath them.

Sasuke looked down, and saw a red glow from the forest floor, "What the hell is that?!"

"That," the woman sneered, "Is an out of control Jinchuuriki," she growled, alerting the two remaining Rock shinobi, "And these idiots are the ones that set him loose!"

As if responding to her words, a massive red creature slammed into the man she had been fighting, dragging the screaming man into the branches where they were treated to the sound of ripping flesh, and breaking bones. The leaves turned red in a shower of blood as what remained of the Rock shinobi fell through the branches in pieces.

Sasuke took the distraction and pierced the man he was fighting through the neck, and kicked him off the branch as a low, rumbling growl sounded from the branches above them. "What...what is going one here?" He asked, looking up in the branches, and saw the leaves withering right before his eyes as they fell from the tree.

"What's going on is that we're in more trouble than we can handle," Anko frowned as a large claw appeared from the branches, crawling down the trunk, "I've got what we need to subdue him, but we could really use your Sharingan right about now."

Sasuke frowned and channeled a little chakra into his eyes, turning them red for all but a moment before they returned to black. He couldn't use them yet. "Sorry." He said as the creature crawled lower.

"Don't be sorry, just be careful," she said, never taking her eyes from the beast, "We're about to be in for the fight of our lives."

* * *

 _ **AN:**_ Stopping it right there.

Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

_**AN:**_ Glad some are still reading this one.

* * *

 _ **4: A Step Closer**_

* * *

The first thing that Sasuke felt when he began to wake was the dull throbbing pain in his abdomen. He lifted his head slowly, cracking his eyes open wide enough to see that his chest was bare save for a few rows of bandages around his chest and rib cage.

"Awake at last, huh?" He heard Anko's voice next to him. Turning his head slowly, he saw the woman sitting next to a small campfire, bandaged up as well from her arms and legs, and around her head. "I'm surprised that we came out of that whole bullshit situation alive."

"What happened?" The young Uchiha demanded weakly, "Did Iwa - "

"Wasn't Iwa, kiddo, it was a rogue Jinchuuriki." The woman sighed, poking at the fire with a small stick, "How much do you remember?"

Sasuke laid back, trying to think. "I remember being on border patrol, but I didn't think we..." his eyes began to widen, "We were attacked!"

"Bingo, buddy-boy," Anko said, lacking enthusiasm, "And we definitely got our asses kicked...but it wasn't those Iwa pricks that done it." She said, looking down at the prone boy, "You remember what happened to Naruto, right?"

Sasuke nodded slowly, "He...He took an Earth Spear to the chest."

"Wrong," the woman snorted, "He shoved you out of the way of being skewered like a fish." She frowned slightly, "Still, you did take a pretty good knock to the head after the poor guy went on a rampage."

"Where is he?" Sasuke asked, not seeing the boisterous blond around until Anko pointed out in front of her. He spotted the prone blond lying unconscious on his own makeshift bed, covered from head to toe in bandages, his clothes in tatters.

"Before you ask," Anko said, silencing anything the teen might have said, "He'll be fine after a few days of recovery. People like him usually heal far faster than normal shinobi do with the aid of a medical shinobi." She said, looking almost jealous, "If I had to guess, I'd say he'll be up and at'em in an hour or so."

Sasuke shook his head, "But I still don't understand what happened?" He said, frowning, "I mean, he should be dead after what happened to him, even if a medic saw him, the damage I saw him take - !"

Anko held up a hand to silence him, "Sasuke, you already knew that Naruto was different than most shinobi his age." She said, "One, he's freakishly fast without chakra to boost his speed. Two, his senses are on par with that of an Inuzuka and his eye sight is greater than most that are trained in far-seeing techniques." He nodded, relenting the fact that Naruto was indeed not like others. "Three, he has an impossible amount of chakra stored within his body that would normally take decades to build up, and he has an unlimited supply of it."

Sasuke realized what she was talking about, "That thing that killed that Iwa shinobi - "

"Was him," she nodded sadly, leveling her eyes at the young blond, "Naruto dislikes killing for no reason, so you can understand that what happened back there," she jerked her thumb over her shoulder, "wasn't really our Naruto. It's supposed to be another power that can help him in a pinch, but seeing him run wild like that makes me think him using it regularly is a mistake. Look what it did to him."

Sasuke couldn't help but agree when he looked at the prone figure of the normally energetic blond, "So...what was that...that thing?

Anko gave him a saddened look, "I'll tell you, but you must keep it a secret." She said, "I'm sure he would've told you and Sakura sooner or later, but this thing could ruin his life for good if something like what happened today happens again, and gets out to the village." She said, thinking back to her days as Orochimaru's treacherous apprentice, "The civilians, and some of the shinobi from the older generations, would crucify him."

"I won't tell anyone," the Uchiha said, "So what is he?"

Anko looked at him a little angrily, "Break that promise, and I break you," she warned, gaining a nod from the boy before continuing, "Naruto is what's called a Jinchuuriki, a container for one of the Tailed Beasts." She sighed, "You can probably guess which one he has inside of him."

"The Nine Tails," Sasuke breathed out, "No wonder the village treats him like the plague."

"Which is bullshit, when you think about it," she said with a wave of her hand, "Naruto's top quality shinobi material, and those old farts on the council have done nothing but hold him back at every turn. You know some of them fixed the tests he took back in academy? They're resting their fannies in prison now." She sneered in anger, "All the kid really needs is some proper guidance, and he'd be Jonin in no time at all!"

Sasuke frowned, "So...if he has the Nine Tails in him, then how are we still alive?"

Anko shrugged, "Blind luck, if you ask me," she said truthfully, "A Jinchuuriki on a rampage is nearly unstoppable. Only a few things can stop them once they lose control."

"And those are?"

Anko pointed at her eyes, "Sharingan-level Genjutsu, or a Sharingan itself. The Nine Tails is famous for being controlled by one of your ancestors with his Sharingan." She said, and the boy nodded, understanding why she had asked about his Sharingan earlier. "The other thing is that they run themselves down. In the state he was in, Naruto was running on a super-charged battery with a ultra-fast life. Once the chakra the Fox pushed into his system to keep him alive ran out, he completely shut down."

Sasuke sighed, "So we only got by on a hope and a prayer, huh?"

"Basically," Anko nodded, flexing her left arm, wincing slightly, "While he's like that, he has no control over what he does, and probably no memory of the event." She sighed, "Apart from those first two, the only other options are special seals that cut the chakra off before he's gone too far, or...or killing him." She cast a small glare at the boy, "Obviously, that last one is entirely off the table."

"Of course it is," Sasuke frowned at her, "I may not get along with the idiot, but I don't want his blood on my hands, either."

Anko snickered, "Why, Sasuke Uchiha, you do have a heart!"

Sasuke chose to ignore that. "So how do we get back to the village," he asked, prodding at his ribs, and wincing, "I'm in no fit shape to carry him, and neither are you from the look of things."

Anko nodded, "I sent one of my snakes back to the village with a message to send reinforcements," she said, "They should be here by morning."

The young man nodded and settled in for what was going to be a long wait, his eyes trailing to the blond shinobi that had saved him. [ _Such a burden_.] He thought, thinking back to their academy days, when he remembered that the blond was always laughing and smiling. Now that he knew what he carried, the Uchiha heir felt a sense of respect for the teen, [ _Anko said that a Sharingan can control a Tailed Beast, so maybe that's why I was teamed up with him._ ]

* * *

 **ナルト**

* * *

Sakura jolted awake quite suddenly when she felt someone shaking her shoulder, and almost came up swinging. Her mind was fogged over with sleep, and her eyes were still blurred from her sudden awakening, but she distinctly heard a high pitched screech as the aggressor. "Sakura!"

"Huh?" The girl blinked a few times, and found none other than her mother standing their with her arms raised to defend herself. "Mom?"

"Who else? And I've been looking for you all night!" The woman asked waspishly, scowling at her daughter, "Just what do you think you're doing here at a place like this?" She demanded, relocating her hands to her hips, "What would people think if they knew you were in that boy's apartment?"

Sakura nearly bristled, but managed to keep her temper in check, "They can think whatever they want." She told her mother evenly, and rotated her neck, feeling a kink forming from her awkward sleeping position, "I've come to care very little about what the older generations think, all things considered."

Mebuki Haruno was many things, and easily surprised was one of them, so imagine her surprise at her own daughter's words. "Sakura, you know that boy is - "

Sakura cut her off with a glare, "I know exactly what he is," she said, her voice hardening as she glared at her mother, "And I have never been more ashamed than I am right now hearing you even try to talk about it!" She snapped, finally losing her temper, "I had already figured out on my own that Naruto had some connection to the Nine Tails from the way people talked about him and treated him, but the Hokage himself told me everything!"

"Everything?!" Mebuki was horrified, "He put a gag order on the entire thing! Punishable by death!"

"Only because there are so many narrow-minded idiots in this village," Sakura snapped, "He saved my life! And you still want to believe he and the Fox are the same person? I don't believe you!"

"Whether or not he is the Fox, Sakura, that boy is dangerous!" The woman screeched, running her hands through her hair angrily, "Ugh, I never should have let you talk me into enrolling you into the shinobi academy! I could've spared you all of this! All because of that silly crush you had on the Uchiha boy, and now you've switched to that demon boy!"

"Don't call him that!" Sakura shouted angrily, "Having that thing inside him doesn't make him a monster! Strong, yes, but not dangerous!"

"Make him angry enough, and he will be!" Mebuki argued, crossing her arms once more, "That does it! I'm speaking with the Hokage about this! Even if you don't quit the force, at least I can have you assigned a different team!"

"You do that," Sakura groused, giving her and slant-eyed look, "It won't stop me from seeing him every chance I get. Nothing will." She shook her head, "I wish you could understand, Mom. He's been nothing but kind to me, and the way I've treated him? He's got every right to be upset with me, but he never is."

Mebuki stared at her daughter, more horrified than before, "Oh, dear gods, Sakura, please don't tell me you're actually in love with that boy!?" Sakura's blushing face was all that her mother needed to confirm her fears. "No! No! NO!" She shouted angrily, "I won't have you consorting with that - that - _thing_!"

"He's not a thing! He's human, just like the rest of us!" Sakura screeched angrily, "And how dare you try to dictate who I spend my time with!? I'm legally an adult now that I've become a kunoichi! You've got no right to treat me like some snot-nosed little brat!"

"Then you need to stop acting like one, and come home immediately," Mebuki snapped, "being around that boy will only get you killed eventually, and even if you do manage to begin dating, what do you think the rest of the village will think!?"

"I don't care!" Sakura snapped.

"I could hear you two clear to my office," chuckled a throaty voice from behind the irate mother.

"Lord Third!" Sakura and Mebuki squeaked in alarm as the man made his presence known.

Hiruzen chuckled, "Good morning to you both, Ladies Haruno." He said by way of greeting, "Seems like I arrived just in time to see a little bird taking her first flight from the nest, haven't I?" He smiled at the young rosette. Sakura returned the smile, but the man's humor seemed to evaporate just as quickly as he appeared, "I'm afraid that I'm not here on a social visit this time, my dear child," he said, frowning, "While I have been assured that they are all faring well, I was informed that earlier this morning, Team Seven returned heavily injured."

"What?!" Sakura yelped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth.

"Oh dear, are they all alright?" Mebuki asked.

Hiruzen nodded, "From what I understand, they encountered a group of Iwa shinobi and were forced into a fight," he said, sighing, "Naruto, however," he looked at the younger Haruno gravely, "Ah, child, there is no easy way of saying this, but an enemy nearly killed Sasuke using an Earth Spear, and would have...had young Naruto not shoved him aside and taken the spear himself."

[ _No_!] Sakura hit her knees, her breath rising in fevered gasps as the gravity of what had happened sank in. Earth Spear techniques were a deadly specialty of any Iwa shinobi, and almost always fatal given the size of the technique.

"Sakura," the man came forward and placed his hands on her shoulders gently, "He's alive and well, my dear, you know as well as I do that something like that wouldn't be his end." He said, making the girl look at him, "You know of what I speak."

"The Fox." Sakura breathed out, then looked at the man sharply, "He lost control, didn't he?"

"He did," he sighed, nodding tiredly, "And it has not gone outside the notice of the council. Once he is able to move freely, he is to be brought before me, and a gathering of the clan officials as well as the three elders. Though I doubt that they would push for it, there are those that would see him locked away like the beast he contains."

"But they can't!" Sakura yelled, tears brimming in her eyes. "If what you've said is true, then he was nearly dead when the Fox took over, and that's after he saved Sasuke's life!"

"And the council will take that into consideration," he said, smiling, "But don't forget, it is I that have the final say in my own village, my dear." He said, helping the girl to her feet while her mother came over to support her, "I may have grown long in the tooth, but I was not named the God of Shinobi without reason. Now, why don't you get yourself sorted out, and pop in on your teammates before this fiasco gets out of hand, hmm? I think he'd like to see you most of all."

Mebuki was a little hesitant, "Lord Hokage, are you certain it's wise to - "

"Love is never wise, Mebuki," the man said as he gave the woman a small disapproving look, "But it is never, ever wrong." He said, refocusing his attention on the girl, "Go on, now, off with you."

Sakura smiled and hurried out of the little apartment, leaving her mother alone with the Hokage, who was giving the woman a hard glare that was cold enough to freeze even a snake in its tracks. "You came very close, Madam. Too close. Are you so set against the boy that you would ruin the happiness of two young hearts?"

Mebuki sighed, looking down at the floor shamefully, "I just don't want my little girl to get hurt, Lord Third," she said, looking at the man sadly, "You've lost one son already, so surely you can understand why I fear for her when I know that she's near that boy. We both know that he can't keep himself in check at all times; sooner or later he will slip."

"Only if he is pushed," the man said, but he relented that the woman, albeit small, had a point. "And that is what this village has done to him since the day of his birth. But still, he retains control over himself. This is the first time the Fox has reared its head in nearly two decades, and it was only because Naruto gave his life to save his comrade, and you would condemn him for that?"

"No, of course not," Mebuki said, shaking her head, "But still, Lord Third, I'm frightened of the possibility."

"As am I," Hiruzen admitted, "But I know the boy enough to trust that he can and will control himself. Which is more than anyone else in the village can say. He is now a shinobi, and a protector of this village, which has stood for over one hundred years since the Second War. Yet, he asks for nothing but attention, which he has lacked throughout his life. And now that he has the attention of the most important person in his life, you wish to deny him that...deny them both."

"She held a flame for the Uchiha boy at first..."

"A flame which has since become nothing but a cinder on the edge of ashes." Hiruzen sighed, "Naruto saved her life, and has shown her nothing but kindness, and love. Would you really see her with someone that didn't give her these?"

"Of course not," she sighed, shaking her head, "I know I can't stop it. The girl is far too stubborn, much like I am." She said, but gestured around them, "But look around you, Lord Third. I'm only afraid that my daughter will come to harm through this relationship. The entire village completely hates him for that creature inside him, and they deny him the very basics of living. This apartment complex is only standing because the boy lives here, otherwise it would be demolished.

Hiruzen nodded, "This I know entirely too well, Mebuki," he said, looking toward the window, spying Sakura as she passed along the streets below, "Naruto was only five years old when I placed him in this apartment. I offered to take him into my own home, but he refused, and asked to live on his own." He said, much to the woman's amazement, "When I asked him why, he simply said that he didn't want the villagers treating me any different because I was being nice to him. Even though he has so little, the boy never stops thinking of others." He smiled.

"I had no idea." The woman said, "And he's taken care of himself all of these years on his own?"

Hiruzen nodded proudly, "Indeed, he has." He said, "As I told Sakura, he taught himself how to hunt, fish, and forage for his own food in the surrounding forests, and spent what little money he had on his clothing, and other essentials." He turned to look at the woman, "But, if you are worried that they will, with time, fall upon hard times due to his status, then worry not. The boy has a hefty inheritance coming to him once he makes Chunin, which may be sooner rather than later, given how well he's doing."

Mebuki shook her head, "I'm not so petty as to covet a marriage for my daughter in hopes of gaining wealth."

"That is a good thing."

* * *

 **ナルト**

* * *

Naruto groaned as he began to wake, and felt an incredible itching sensation all over his body. He reached up to scratch his chest, and blinked when he saw that his hands were covered in bandages, his skin an angry red beneath them. [ _What the hell?_ ]

A look around the room told him that he was in a hospital, the place he hated the most. [How did I even get here?] He wondered, thinking back on the events that led him to where he was. He remembered being on border patrol duty with Sasuke and Anko, and that they had had a run-in with a group of Iwa shinobi...and that he had taken a jutsu to the chest when he shoved Sasuke out of its path.

[ _Oh_.] The only thing that could have saved him was the Fox's chakra. He knew that all too well. [I must've lost control...so much for my dreams.] He sighed tiredly, pulling back the bandages on his chest. Underneath was a very large, and very fresh scar.

"Not as bad as it looked a couple of hours ago, I can tell ya that much," Anko said as she appeared in the room. Naruto barely jumped at her appearance. He thought he'd caught her scent. "You did good out there, Blondie."

Naruto ground his teeth as he placed the bandages back into place, "I lost control of it, didn't I?"

Anko shrugged, "In your defense, you were knocking on death's door, so a little rampage like that was expected." She said, and sauntered further into the room, "In the end of it all, you still came out of it the worst. Sasuke just has a little bruising on his ribs, and I've just got some nasty chakra burns from your cloak. You? You're FUBAR-ed."

Naruto shook his head, "I'll be up in a day or so." He said, "The Fox won't let me live a normal life, but he won't let me die, either."

"You are acting like an Uchiha with a chip on their shoulder," the woman said, smirking when the boy made a face at her, "Well, ya do! Naruto, what you did out there shows me just what kind of shinobi you are! If it were up to me, you'd be promoted to Jonin right away!"

"Bull."

"I prefer chicken, thank you." The woman snickered, and sat on the edge of his bed, sighing, "I'm being one hundred percent serious, Naruto. You are, without a doubt, the most promising Genin I've ever seen. Sasuke's grateful to you, too, by the way."

"He wouldn't be if he knew - " Naruto began, but Anko cut him off.

"He does know," she said, making him look at her sharply, "Well, I couldn't _not_ tell him, right? I had to explain things to him so he wouldn't raise a fuss about it."

Naruto sighed, nodding in understanding, "I guess this means they'll place me in a different team if they don't outright lock me up for being too dangerous to be around," he said.

Anko snorted, and crossed her arms under her bust, "They'll have to go through me, first, kiddo," she said, looking down at the boy, "Look, Naruto, I won't lie and tell you that this will all just blow over after you get out of the hospital, which will be a while since the doctors said you have hairline fractures throughout your entire body, fingers included, and some seriously bad chakra burns."

"So they do want to lock me up," he surmised.

"Lord Third won't allow that, and you know it." She assured him. "The council may howl for a hanging, but he's got the final say so around here, and no one's gonna go against his word."

"Well, that's comforting," he sighed, looking up her, "Does...does Sakura - ?"

"Probably," she nodded, much to his horror, and reached over and patted his shoulder, "Naruto, listen, Sasuke understands. And so will Sakura. They're not as narrow minded as the rest of the village is...you know that."

Naruto shook his head, "Do I?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" She pointed out, "And let's not forget Iruka. And Lord Third."

He sighed, relenting that she was right...on a few accounts. But Naruto Uzumaki did not survive to be fifteen by being _too_ trusting. Friendly, maybe, but trust? That was an entirely different matter altogether.

Anko smiled slightly and bent to kiss the top of his head, making the boy's flare up comically as the woman laughed, "I'll give Iruka your best," she smiled down at him, and turned to leave just as the door came flying open. "Hey there, Pinkie!" She greeted her pink-haired Genin. "I'm all done with him, so he's all yours." She said, smiling as she passed the girl, and muttered, "Be gentle, he's hurt pretty bad, Sakura."

Sakura jolted, but nodded worriedly, "Yes'm."

"Good girl," she smiled, and left the room, "Good luck."

Sakura bowed her head a little, hiding the blush rising to her cheeks, "Thank you for bringing him back." Anko gave her a final pat on the back and left them alone. Sakura raised her head, looking across the room at the boy that had recently begun to haunt her thoughts; awake or otherwise. Naruto, for his part, had turned away from her, unwilling to look at her for some reason or another. Was it shame? Guilt? Or perhaps it was both. Whatever the reason, Sakura did not like the rift that the simple action had formed.

So she stepped into the room, making her way to him in a few quick strides, and took in his battered state. "Did..." she gulped back the nervousness that threatened to silence her, "Did the Fox do this to you?"

Naruto jumped slightly at the mention of the Fox, and grunted. "Of course you know." He sighed, "The entire village probably knows by now."

Sakura shook her head, realizing that it was a futile gesture a moment later when Naruto remained turned away from her. "I didn't...I didn't find out that way." She told him, making the boy turn his head slightly in interest. "After...after I got released, I wanted to thank you somehow...but I was also curious about why the older villagers seem to hate you so much."

"So you snooped." Naruto shrugged stiffly, "Not surprising. So how did you finally figure out what I am?"

Sakura frowned, "Naruto, you're not the Fox," she said, drifting down to sit lightly on the edge of the bed, careful not to jostle him. "I could never think of you like that."

"You already are," the boy said, confusing her, "Think about it, Sakura, if I slipped again, I'd be no different than a miniature version of the Nine Tails. Hell, I was just that not twelve hours ago. Ask Sasuke."

"I did," she smiled, making him flinch again, "And you know what he said? You saved his life, Naruto."

Naruto turned toward her at last, and she found herself blushing as he gazed up at her. "You'd be sad if something happened to him, wouldn't you?"

"I-I would, yes," she relented, fighting back the color on her cheeks, "But...I'd...I feel the same way about you, Naruto... _more_ , even." She found herself admitting. It felt so easy saying it to him, though.

Naruto found himself looking at her in disbelief. "Just like that? Really?"

Sakura nodded, sighing a little bit, "Does it have to be complicated?"

"When I've had eyes only for you for the better part of ten years, and you've only been looking at Sasuke?" He asked somewhat heatedly, " _Yes_ , it does."

Sakura felt her lips twitch upwards in a sort of sad smile, "I guess I can't really blame you there," she admitted, "I was surprised myself, honestly." She smiled down at him, "You've always been there trying to cheer me up when we were little, and just starting academy, and I was...well, a _bitch_ , basically."

"I wouldn't go _that_ far." Naruto put in, a little surprised at how she referred to herself, even as a child.

"It's true, though," she said, her voice cracking, "I treated you so badly, and you just...you kept loving me..."

He raised himself and sat up, "Hey, stop with the tears already!" He pleaded.

"I am _not_ crying," she huffed, but stilled when one of his bandaged hands reached up and brushed against her cheek.

"Yeah," he said softly, "I think you are, Sakura...and I hate seeing you upset."

"Your fault."

Naruto snorted, "How's this my fault?"

"For being such a good person," she said, wiping her eyes slightly, "I know you've got no reason to believe me, Naruto...but I do..." Her face began to heat up more than it had before, turning her cheeks bright red, "I lo - "

She didn't get the chance to finish as Naruto pulled her against his chest. Sakura was so surprised that she nearly missed him dipping his head down to hers as his hand tilted her chin up.

Sakura had no trouble admitting that she had absolutely no experience in kissing, but the moment she felt Naruto's lips on hers she could not think of anything other than how good it felt. And she wanted more.

His hold on her was gentle, almost as if he was afraid of breaking her, but the girl had no such reservations, and wrapped her arms around his back, clutching at his shoulders as she tried to bring him closer. He relented with an almost animalistic rumble in the back of his throat that sent shivers throughout her body as the hand that was around her shoulders rose to the base of her neck, his fingers running through her hair.

A small feminine moan escaped her as she felt him suckle on her bottom lip, his sharper-than-normal canines teasing her with the tips. He broke away from her just a moment later, gasping for breath as she was, but did not relent as he trailed his lips down to her neck. She gasped in short, shallow breaths as he kissed a trail back to her lips, and this time, she kissed him back.

"Sakura." He growled as he broke away for breath.

"Naruto." She beamed up at him before snuggling against his chest.

He held her there, slowly running his fingers through her hair. "You realize that I'm only getting started, don't you?"

Sakura giggled breathlessly, "I think I can deal with that." She smiled, reaching up so that she could continue kissing him.

* * *

 **ナルト**

* * *

"I'm certainly glad you arrived so quickly, Jiraiya," Hiruzen smiled at his former apprentice, "Given the state of things with young Naruto, I had wanted you back a little sooner, but I realize that you were busy keeping our mutual friend under the radar."

Jiraiya, a large man of six foot even, and stark white hair that reached all the way down to his waist, could only smile, "Oh, believe me, keeping him out of trouble is no easy task considering he has his face in all the Bingo Books. Half the people he's ran into either want his head, or want to throw him into bed with a few dozen beauties. Not the most envious of situations, but not the worst, either."

"I'm sure," Hiruzen chuckled, and then became serious, "I know you know about Naruto's recent slip in his control, even though it was due to a fatal injury, and we both realize that the council will be badgering me to do something about this 'threat' as they seem to enjoy calling it."

Jiraiya sighed, "The boy's just fresh out of academy, you really can't expect him to be perfect, and given his parents' it's lucky no one's smart enough around here to make the connection save for a few of the more enlightened clan officials."

"I realize this, Jiraiya, but some action must be taken," Hiruzen sighed, "I want you to take him out of the village, him and his team, of course, and bring back Tsunade."

Jiraiya frowned, "Uh, you know that she's not gonna - "

Hiruzen took off his hat and thrust it at the man, "Find her, or so help me you'll be wearing this infernal thing!"

"Okay, okay!" The man yelped, "Jeez, you sure haven't slowed down in your old age, you know that?"

"I'm a lot slower than I used to be, as a matter of fact," Hiruzen admitted reluctantly. "I cannot leave the village in the hands of anyone other than you, Tsunade, or perhaps even Kakashi. But I believe that, if she were to return, Tsunade would make an excellent Fifth Hokage."

"She'll fight it tooth and nail, you know that, right?"

Hiruzen nodded, "I do, and that's why I'm sending Team Seven with you." He said, "Sasuke is close to unlocking his Sharingan, and Naruto will need to be out of the village for a little while in order for things to calm down after that stupid meeting he'll have to go through. And Sakura, I believe, will benefit from the journey as well."

Jiraiya nodded slowly, "I think I'd like to teach the kid some of his old man's jutsu, if that's alright?"

"He would like that," the Hokage smiled, "He would like that very much... _especially_ after I introduce his godfather to him."

Jiraiya quirked his brow at the man, "You sure that's a good idea?"

"So-so," he admitted, "But the boy longs for a family, Jiraiya, and you are all he has left aside from myself, and Iruka."

Jiraiya took a deep breath, letting it out in a gusty sigh, "Alright, so when do I get to see him, finally?"

Hiruzen chuckled, regarding his crystal ball for a moment, "I think it best to wait a day or two, at least until he is back on his feet, and we can get this idiotic council fiasco out of the way."

Jiraiya gave the man a knowing look, "You know that's the same twinkle you had in your eye when you _accidentally_ spied on Kushina and Minato making out, right?"

"Is it?" The old man chuckled, "I wouldn't know."

* * *

 _ **AN:**_ I think I did pretty well with this chapter, but I want your opinions on a lot of things, primarily the little scene with Naruto and Sakura, and maybe the small bonding moment with Anko.

Please Review!


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